#so cute when cicadas cry

[goosita]

first of all i love you. really. everything that you're writing is making my life so much better, so thank u <3 if that's okay for u, could you write something where reader is a single mom, she has a little girl and her daughter is very attached to billy? and it's the most sweetest thing ever cause billy loves her, calls her little princess (very sweet tooth 😭) one night, her daughter asks billy to read a storie for her to sleep and he does so and in the end, she says something like "i wish you were my dad" and it's just so cute and funny cause she gagged everyone, reader is like "babe!!!!" while billy is in shock but at the same time his heart is melting 🥺🥺 (sorry if this is too much, just write if u want!)

oh im. gonna cry and sob and piss everywhere this is the sweetest softest thing ive ever read yes oh my god

billy would be so so sweet with your daughter, especially if she was around 4-6 years old. at first you were worried that a man like him wouldn’t want anything to do with a single mother, especially one as young as you. but he never asked you to explain, and never judged you for it. all he ever did was treat you like a queen, and your daughter like a princess.

and your little girl is just enamored with him. she follows after him like a little duckling, so much so that billy starts to call her “ducky”. it makes her giggle every single time, always makes billy smile all warm and fond. they get on like a house on fire, your man and your baby girl. billy teaches her things like how to ride a horse, how to tie all kinds of knots, how to rope a little goat even. your daughter tells you one evening, her little face very serious, that she thinks “billy knows everything, mama. everything!” you want to let her believe it for as long as possible.

on this particular day, all 3 of you had spent the day together. billy had showed up bright and early to take you for a picnic out in a meadow behind your house, a daylong excursion that lasted until the sun slowly set. it was late spring, cicadas beginning to sing in the tall grass. once it got dark outside, billy pulled out a jar and showed your daughter how to catch fireflies. once they had about 10 of them, they sat on the blankets with their heads ducked together to observe them, giving each one a unique name.

“let’s call this one tommy,” she says, pointing at a bug near the bottom.

“perfect name, ducky. how’d you get so good at this?”

your little girl giggles, shrugging and letting billy name the next one. it makes your heart so happy to see a man with so much patience and love for your daughter.

when you finally return to the house, it’s time to get your kid ready for bed. tired and pliant from her long day outside catching bugs and weaving flower crowns (that of course billy taught her how to do), she goes down without much of a fight. she does ask billy to stay and tell her a bedtime story, though, and he’s never been one to deny that sweet little face whatever she wants.

you half-listen as billy spins some wild tale about a princess who slay dragons herself, one who doesn’t need a prince to come and rescue her. she’s strong and brave and guess what? she looks just like your little girl, same hair color and little lilac colored dress. his story makes her smile, even as her sleepy eyes begin to blink more slowly. when he finishes, he leans down to kiss her forehead softly and tuck her blanket around her small little body.

“i wish you were my daddy,” she murmurs sleepily, rubbing her eye with one small fist. you see billy freeze and slowly look to you, unsure what to say.

“oh, baby—“ you start, taking a step forward. billy gently cuts you off, which you welcome, not sure what to tell her.

“you know, ducky, sometimes i wish that too,” he whisper conspiratorially. her eyes light up curiously.

“really?” she asks, looking up at him.

“mhm,” he says with a nod. “but i think this little thing we have going here is even more special. you know why?”

she waits for an answer, eyes full of curiosity and wonder at the man sitting on the edge of her bed.

“because i didn’t help to give you life, life gave you and me to each other. and that’s pretty special, don’t you think?”

your little girl smiles, nodding her head. you swallow hard, your eyes feeling a little misty at the way he loves your baby and she loves him. it’s so pure, so unconditional the way they’ve attached themselves to each other.

billy smiles at her and brushes her hair away from her face, giving her chubby cheek a soft caress.

“sweet dreams, baby girl.”

“goodnight billy,” she says with a little yawn, snuggling down into her pillow. billy blows out the oil lamp beside her bed, following you out of her bedroom and closing the door softly.

“i’m sorry if i overstepped, i didn—“ he’s cut off by you grabbing his face and pulling him down into a dizzying kiss. you smile against his mouth when he doesn’t hesitate for even a second to kiss you back, his arms winding around your waist to pull you closer.

“thank you,” you whisper when you finally break away for air. “for loving both of us, for taking care of us.”

“sweetheart, you don’t have to thank me for that. i’ll always be here to take care of my two best girls,” he says with a grin, tucking a lock of your hair behind your ear. “and who knows? maybe one day soon you’ll let me put a ring on that pretty little finger and that little girl in there can call me whatever she wants.”

#oh im sobbing this is so sweet #lowkey i wanna make a series now of little moments with billy and reader’s little girl #anon #billy the kid #billy the kid x reader #billy the kid x you #tom blyth #tom blyth x reader

[nkogneatho]

𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐄

°🖇᭡ 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐔 𝐌𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

—cw: fem!reader, mention of childhood trauma, female masturbation, fingering, cum slurping, clit slapping, edging, nicknames (princess), reader cries from the edging.

—a/n: i was supposed to post this two days ago but tumblr took away my access. but no one can stop me and i am back so i hope you enjoy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOYFIE. please stay tuned for other fics in the mlist.

In a city like Tokyo, the setting sun arrives with a bustling crowd of people filling the streets. Some for food. Some for a stroll. Many traveling back home from their office. Although you will always catch drunkards putting up a fight, something that happens almost everyday. The whole place swamped, and the noise is almost suffocating.

You disliked the evenings. Someone who grew up between constant quarrels, the yelling triggered the worst fears in you. This is why your husband bought a penthouse in the most peaceful place of Tokyo. On the outskirts of the city, where evenings brought silence. Only gusts of summer wind and the night, crickets and cicadas chirping. But this evening, the cicadas could be barely heard, overpowered by your whimpers.

"Toru," you cried. Your limbs were splayed out on the bed with the white haired man watching. Amusement masked his face.

"C'mon, princess. i know you can do it." His voice is deep yet so sweet. He usually talks in a higher pitch with others, a part of his personality perhaps that comes with his sarcastic attitude. But with you? It's much more gentle. Much lower until it pulls you down with itself. Until you forget that there's anyone else in this world.

"Toru, please. ah! c-can't reach. hel—help me." your managed to speak between hiccups. Although, it didn't seem like your husband was done playing with you. Your fingers pumping your hole, but couldn't reach where you wanted them to.

The mattress dipped a little when he settled on the edge of the bed. He watched your cunt getting played from a better angle now. It was so embarrassing to have him gaze at the most sacred part of you like he's a lustful notorious god and you were the source of his usual entertainment. Like you were the human he eanted to toy with to give humanity another lesson. The long fingers you were whimpering about drew rivers as they crawled up from your feet to your inner thighs, pussy still crying for his touch.

"I'll help you a little since you're cries are so beautiful, sweetheart."

He seized the white lace hanging low from your vanity, and started brushing it against your skin. You squirmed in the anticipation. The lace was soon held at each end by his fingers and placed on top of your wet slick. He started pulling them alternatively to create friction. The satin touch on your clit made it throb and you whined, grinding against the soft, silky fabric. Soon, he didn't even have to move the lace, you were helping yourself.

"mhm...mhmm fuck...need more, toru," you moaned. Satoru took the lace of your clit, depriving you of the sweet release.

"Look at this, princess. You're so wet, your juices dripped down from the ribbon to my hand." You glanced and it was true. The white satin was damp grey now with trails of wetness on his fingers.

Satoru discarded the lace and sat in front of your pussy. He unbuckled his belt but didn't pull his pants down. Guess we was just getting comfortable for what he was about to do. He bent until he could clearly see your hole pushing out your juices, almost like it was crying.

"Look at her crying for attention, princess. She's so much like you." You faced away from him. You were not sure how to look him in the eye after what he just said. He chuckled because he found you cute.

Satoru turned your face back to him and you watched as he suckled on his finger, pulling them out and spitting on it. His another hand moved away from your cheeks and focused on your pussy as it parted the lips. Toru blew cold air that kissed your wetness, teasing you. He pushed his saliva wet digits in you and you finally moaned in satisfaction.

"ah! fuck—finally."

Because he knew he reached parts of you, you never can. He fingers you open like a tangerine. The bed of his fingertips rubbing the thousand nerves in you, just like the tiny vesicles of the fruit. His long fingers stroke your velvety walls like bruising the skin of a tangerine. He pushes it in and out until you're completely juiced. Until the bed is citrus, and his fingers sweet. Until the fruit is nothing but empty pulp because he was thirsty.

You yelped and cried when he finally gave you the pleasure of cumming down his fingers. Your body jerked because he doesn't pull out. He slapped your clit for more and you couldn't believe for the first time another orgasm plagued you when the previous wasn't even finished.

"fu—aghh! fuck. please...holy shit! nghm," you sobbed.

"Didn't know you could do that, princess." He kissed your forehead before going down. He slurped all your cum, yet you were still very much wet. "Let's try that again, but this time do that on my tongue, pretty. You will, right?"

Yes you did.

You were just like a tangerine. Juicy and sweet. And he was a thirsty man.

tagging: @elusivemoon @sachiyoh @get0sfav @greycaelum @dianagracesworld @ammcg0119 @fleur-bbyy @jexx233 @katsuslover @chiyoso @driaswrld @a1sh1teruu @rizzmin @sugumimi @happymangospot @tenshi-cho @yourlocalmoon-lover @nothingfuninthislife @charbunxxi @idkks4m @02yunominami

#gojo x reader #gojo smut #gojo satoru #gojo satoru x reader #jjk x reader #gojo satoru smut #jjk smut #gojo x you #jjk gojo #jujutsu kaisen smut #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen drabbles #jjk drabbles #jjk x you #jjk x y/n #jjk x fem!reader #gojo x fem!reader

[bogleech]

REVIEWING THIS WHOLE BAG OF RUBBER BUGS:

I mentioned recently that bags of cheap rubber bugs are harder to come by in real stores, but that there are a few options for them online. I just received this set from Aliexpress that’s currently only $4 with free shipping, you might even find the same set cheaper since there’s multiple listings for it, but I can verify this source is using an accurate photo and I am now going to REVIEW THEM:

SPIDER: obligatory, all-purpose spider, ambiguous species, noodly legs, minimal paint application, 3/5

COCKROACH: nice silky black coloration on the back, tan on the underside, rather haphazard leg pose, I like it but in terms of objective quality it’s unfortunately a 2/5 compared to other fake roaches and even to other bugs in this set.

DRAGONFLIES: so this set is definitely pieced together from what were once multiple different rubber bug sets, but I can also confirm that you always get the same selection I’m reviewing, which includes several redundancies. You get both a large and small dragonfly with entirely different sculpts, the smaller one more accurately sculpted but not as dynamically painted! Both I’d give a 3/5, adequate dragonflies

ORTHOPTERA: you get a cricket AND two different styles of grasshopper! The big, detailed black and red cricket is crudely painted but very unique, 3.5/5. The small grasshopper is cute and inoffensive, barely painted, 3/5. The large grasshopper is a 4/5 for me because while I’ve seen plenty like it, it has a really nice gradient from lime green to a darker grassier green that I just find very pleasant.

BEES: two very differently sculpted bees, and they both use a sparkly metallic gold with black stripes. Both deserve a 4/5.

ANTS: collectively I’m gonna say these are a 3.5/5, on their own very plain but I like that together you have a dull yellow-tan ant with comical googly eyes and a bigger, more ominous shiny black ant with spooky red eyes. I like that the black ant is also tied with a couple others as the largest bug in the set. It’s actually only slightly larger than the real life Giant Amazonian ant, Dinoponera, which is also entirely black.

MANTIDS: excellent choice for another double bug, I like the simple cheapness of the little one with its awkwardly sculpted forelegs but to fair it’s a 2/5 compared to the 4/5 of the larger, red-eyed mantis which has more of that “sparkly” paint style!

SCORPIONS: the only other arachnids in the set, and it’s amazing they included two different scorpions but only one spider. Trust me when I say that’s the most radical maverick decision a rubber bug set has ever made in the history of mankind. The small red scorpion is alright, a 3 I guess. The larger one has only six legs which is not accurate (the claws of a scorpion are modified mouthparts, not legs!) but I can’t look at its little black eyes and not want to cry so 5/5 actually.

CICADA: not terribly common in these! Charming, chunky brown cicada, though the thorax piece is so transparent you can always see the hole it plugs into. At one time, this sculpt may have been part of a higher quality set that actually painted over this design flaw. 4/5 regardless.

FLY: there’s a pattern here in which almost every flying insect in the set has a gold-brown base, which I’m not a big fan of. Sadly I’m overall neutral on this fly, normally my favorite of all the basic insects, perhaps because it looks just as much like some sort of wasp. It’s definitely a fly due to having only one pair of wings, and plenty of flies look exactly like this, but I’d just be a bigger fan if it was a chunkier, larger-eyed blowfly or horsefly. 2.5/5

UNKNOWN: there are actually several insects this could possibly represent including a few Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera, but the one insect it most closely resembles is an adult caddisfly. I like it, but it’s difficult to fairly judge it with no certain identification so 3/5 has to do.

HAWKMOTH: stellar choice! I’ve seen only one cheap-grade plastic hawkmoth in my whole life, actually! Several hawkmoths are even clear-winged, though those usually still have dark markings around the wing edges. Would’ve been more accurate to some real species if they just cast the wings in a solid color, but that’s a trivial criticism. 5/5

WASP: the wasp is SO good. The paint on this one is skewed funny but that’s fine, the green of the abdomen pops really well and I love the grouchy red eyes. 5/5

CATERPILLAR: larvae are so rarely included in these, and when they are, they’re often an incredibly plain segmented tube that doesn’t look like anything in particular, or a recolor of a generic caterpillar I’ve seen several times before. This caterpillar sculpt is actually new to me and nicely shaped, with a tapering body and accurate limbs. It is however a rather stiff hunk of plastic, not as rubbery as the others, and honestly this is the one you would want rubberiest! Still a 5/5 for its inclusion at all.

BEETLE: beetles are the most abundant, diverse insect group and the most common rubber bug toy after spiders, so it’s another bold move that they include only one in this whole set and it isn’t even one of the more recognizable, more famous beetles. On its own merits as just a rubber beetle it’s a 3/5, but its metallic blue stands out so nicely in this set, and the sculpt appears to be some sort of blister beetle, a rare choice and a very cool (but dangerous! Don’t touch them!!!) insect group so 5/5

MOSQUITO: mosquitoes are another of my favorite animal groups, and as one of the world’s most abundant, most recognized, most controversial insects you’d think they’d be a standard bug toy already, but this is only the third plastic mosquito design I’ve ever seen in my entire long life! It’s brown, unpainted, dinky and bent funny. 10/5

#toys #biology #animals #stuff

[umeoniii]

Hii! I was thinking female reader x Hange Zoe smut! Maybe reader is jealous and upset with hange seeming so invested in Pieck (you know cuz she's the cart titan). Hange starts to notice reader acting upset which leads to comfort sex. I dunno something cute and smutty

jealous reader & hange

(｀_´)ゞ

you sat alone in the courtyard watching the sunset, picking at your food. steak rice and water, the same thing as usual. you sat and thought, what drove me here? sitting alone with nothing but anger bubbling in my chest?

usually you’d be sitting with hange, listening to her ramble while you ate and nodded. a shiver ran through your body as the warm summer breeze went through you, bringing a few small flower petals aside your foot. you listened to the nighttime cicadas coming to life.

you were jealous, jealous of your lover’s friend, pieck. you didn’t trust their relationship, you were fine with hange having friends, but pieck made you feel something else. possessiveness. you weren’t possessive, or at least you thought you weren’t.

it’s been quite a while since hange and peick have been friends. about 3 months to be exact, it’s been 3 months since you’ve watched from afar with jealousy. you knew it was horrible for you to be jealous and to not have trust in hange but you couldn’t help it.

pieck had something that you didn’t have and that’s what hange liked about her. you’d watch how her face would light up when talking to her. you couldn’t help but think what would you have to do for her to appreciate you more, because you weren’t gonna just let this pass by like absolutely nothing. you’d wake up earlier to have an early start on looking even better, maybe that would’ve gotten her attention.

you’d wear your hair different ways , try to wear more pleasant clothes, you had even tried a little bit of makeup. there were times you’d even try to appear more provocative around hange. shoving your tits in her face or getting on all fours to pick something up, hoping she’d stare at your ass. she noticed it and would compliment you, but not in the way you wanted her to.

you started to become more jealous and bitter over it. you always told yourself that if hange wanted pieck that she would’ve already left you, so you were safe. but you still couldn’t help but hate her.

you’d look in your mirror before bed, mumbling and laughing to yourself “she’s not better than me, i have a whole lot more than her. im so much more desirable.” you’d then put your silky pink night gown on and go to sleep. sometimes crying yourself to slumber because of how much it pissed you off.

one day things were different though. the first time you saw them get super close, and most certainly the last. hange got super close to her, pulling her into a tight hug, jumping up and down.

you walked up with a smile inquiring about why she and pieck were so close like that.

“ive been begging her for weeks to let me experiment on her and the titan and she finally gave in! well kinda…” she smiled cheekily

she genuinely sounded so happy about it, you weren’t though.

you scanned them up and down with your eyes before turning around walking away. your finger nails digging into the flesh of your palm, fist clenching from the pure abhorrence.

that night hange came into your room, sitting next to you while you were laying down. she saw you were wearing another one of those lacy night gowns she knew you loved a lot. this one hugged your curves just the right way, it was a v neck as well, she stared at your cleavage while you were lying down.

she rubbed the side of your upper thigh “hey honey.”

“im not in the mood, go back to work.” you sighed turning around towards the opposite way of hange.

she slid her hands under the silk fabric rubbing your ass, “just what do i have to do to get under those cute panties.” she whispered

“stop talking to her.” you responded bluntly

you can feel her shocked face burning holes into your back.

“you know i can’t do that, she’s very vital to my studies.”

“then get out. m’ not gonna ask you again.”

you felt the weight of the bed lessen as she respected your wish and got off your bed.

you heard the door open and close as she took her exit.

and everyday after that you gave hange more of a slight attitude.

“look at what i read about today, isn’t it weird?”

“yup.” you looked away

“i found this for you at the store, do you like it?”

“it’s great” you say, not paying attention at all to the conflicting colors on the dress.

she noticed the complete change in your demeanor and assumed it might’ve still been because of pieck, so she tested the theory.

“i found this at the store, do you think pieck would like it?”

you turned from your vanity to look at the dress, it was very revealing. it was cute a pink, frilly, skimpy little dress. it pissed you off that she wanted her to wear something so… revealing. and you knew that she knew the dress was something of your fondness and that’s exactly why she asked.

and her theory was proven correct , because after you took in the view of the dress you turned around and threw your lipstick at her.

“the fucks wrong with you!? i was so right, you do have something for her! you probably have weird little fantasies about having sex with her titan or some shit! you might as well fuck her with how you’ve been acting! get out!” you yelled.

“ y/n hun, it’s not like that, you know i love you more than titans or anything im interested in, i put you before anything.” she stood up looking at you.

“oh my god, get. out.” you pushed her through the door and slammed it.

you heard her voice muffled through the oak door, “you know what, stay in there and cry about it. im not working myself up with your crazy little delusions.” she walked off

you sat back on your bed, you didn’t want hange to be right but you felt your lip tremble as your nails digged into your thighs. tears ran down your cheek as you tried not to think too hard about it. once again, you cried yourself to sleep. all i’ve done is sat and been pretty for her, all for her to get mad at me.

you woke up to the rhythm of knocks on your door. your head turned and you sat up as you saw your door open, hange walked in with a expressionless face. she walked and sat on the bed next to you.

“you’re not seriously jealous of her though, are you? you don’t actually believe i’d ever leave you if i had the choice? you’re the only woman i want to be with. i wouldn’t chose another woman over you on even my darkest of days.” she said rubbing your thigh with her palm.

you sniffled as she wiped the tears off your cheeks.

“you’re better than that y/n, you’re so-”

“you seem to enjoy yourself more around her.” you scoffed

“well im sorry that i get excited about that kinda stuff, but you still know i love you.” she picked up your face, your doe eyes glimmering from the still wet tears inside of your eyes.

she brought your lips closer to hers.

“tell me though y/n, do you think the things that i do to you pieck will never get to experience?”

you shook your head

“that’s what i thought.” her soft lips drifted over the goosebumps on your neck before biting your neck, sucking on your supple skin.

you let out a soft yelp clawing at her clothed back.

she nipped and sucked at you skin undressing you slowly and whispering sweet praises into your ear.

“i’ll never love anyone else like this.” she said, her fingers drifting to your panties. you stifle your moan, pushing her hand away.

she looks up at you through her glasses, pulling you hand away forcefully and bringing your underwear down.

“god you’ve been such a brat y/n, im just trying to show you how much i really do appreciate and love you.” she whispered softly into your ear.

she opened you legs staring at your glistening cunt kissing and licking at you.

“you’re so beautiful.” she speaks in between laps, “i love you so much.” her tongue flicks against your hardened bud as she shook her head in between your thighs, gripping them as though she were holding onto a cliff in which she was hanging off of. her tongue slipped inside of your hole, licking at the ridges and wetness brewing deep inside of you.

“i want you to sit on my face baby.” she muffled inside of you, vibrations in your cunt causing you to whimper and squeeze her head with your thighs.

“huh?” you looked at her tears clouding your vision.

she unlatched her mouth from your pussy, “ i said i want you on my face.” she layed on your soft duvet laying her head back onto the pillow. you turned your body and sat onto hange’s face not giving her a chance to breathe.

she started lapping vigorously at your sweet cunt nibbling on your folds. then she went back to sucking on your hardened clit.

god, hange loved having you atop her face. she loved staring down your body, listening to your whines and whimpers as she gave you princess treatment.

you placed your hands onto her shoulders riding her face as her tongue stuffed you and her nose bumped against your clit. the friction was a lot, your brain even foggier from the pleasure. you couldn’t even remember why you were on top of hange practically screaming her name.

hange’s brown hair was in between your fingers while you whimpered her name “oh god hange fuck” you mewled looking at her looking up at you. she drifted her hands up your gown pinching at your nipples.

you gasped from the feeling, eyes shut tight. you felt her mumbling into your cunt, probably about how much she cherished you. you felt how her thumb started to rub your bud faster, and how her tongue got thrusted and rubbed faster. you felt yourself getting closer to your orgasm going faster. you looked down at hange who was looking up at you

“ m’ gonna cum han’ ” you whimpered gripping her hair tighter.

she gave you a a little nod setting you over edge as you came inside of her mouth. hange slurped up your cum, eating it like it was honey. you leaned forward catching your breath while hange slowly moved her face up from your cunt. she gasped for breath, “ i don’t love pieck like this, i would never eat her pussy and swallow her cum like i do you.” she kissed the inside of your thigh and the valley between your breasts.

“i… love… you too” you panted

her pretty lips pecked your cheeks, “ i won’t ever make you feel unappreciated again.” she layed her head in the crook of your neck.

~

a/n: i got a little bit carried away… i hope u love it though! sorry it took a lil bit long

#umeswritin!~ #hange attack on titan #hange x reader #hange zoe #aot hange #hange #hange smut #hange zoë smut #hange zoë #hange x reader smut #hange x black reader #hange snk #hange aot #aot imagines #aot headcanons #aot hcs #aot smut #hanji smut #aot x reader smut #aot x female reader

[mamayan]

Welcome to my Followers Event!

This event is now closed!

Below will be the master list for all the prompts I answered!

Kokushibo “Let me hold you?” || Sleep || Tangled hair || Soulmates || GN! Reader

Giyuu Tomioka Somnophilia || Yandere || “You cry so pretty.” || “I need you like I need air in my lungs, like I need blood in my veins, like I need the earth to keep spinning.” || Fem! Reader

Giyuu Tomioka “I told you to sit on my face, not hover baby.”|| Lesson || Tangled hair || Enemies to lovers || Fem! Reader Coded (GN! Terms used)

Gojo Satoru “I’ll make you fucking sorry.”|| Lesson || Late autumn walk || Edging/Overstimulation || GN! Reader

Giyuu Tomioka Tender || Femdom || Best Friend || Laundry || Fem! Reader

Tomura Shigaraki “I’ll make you fucking sorry.” || Wartime || Fresh laundry || Enemies to lovers || Fem! Reader

Suguru Geto “You’re pathetic, you know that right?” || Cicadas singing || Exhibitionism || Throat fucking || GN! Reader

Tengen Uzui “I want to worship the ground you walk on.” || Saint || Soulmates || Praise/Worship || AFAB! Reader

Douma “You’re pathetic, you know that right?” || Taste of Iron || Size || Praise/Worship || Fem! Reader

Kento Nanami SHOT! || Fem! Reader

Sanemi Shinazugawa “I told you to sit on my face, not hover baby.” || Carnivore || Hot stove || Bully || Fem! Reader

Toji Fushiguro “Keep crying baby, maybe someone will save you?” || Asphyxiation || Dacryphilia || Degradation/Humiliation || GN! Reader

Sanemi Shinazugawa “You’re pathetic, you know that right?” || Lesson || Sensitive || Professor/Teacher || Fem! Reader Coded

Aizawa Shota “You’re pathetic, you know that right?” || Sleep || Nightmares when sick || Step!Parent || Fem! Reader

Suguru Geto SHOT! || GN! Reader

Tengen Uzui SHOT! || Fem! Reader

Tomura Shigaraki Graveyard Shift || Muddy boots || Stalker || Voyeurism || Fem! Reader

Choso “Keep crying baby, maybe someone will save you?” || Carnivore || Graveyard Shift || Stalker || Fem! Reader

Cute dividers hand drawn by @benkeibear ! ♡

#500 event #kny smut #bnha smut #jjk smut #JJK Choso smut #Choso smut #tomura shigaraki smut #Tengen Uzui smut #Suguru Geto smut #shota aizawa x reader smut #Sanemi Shinazugawa smut #Toji Fushiguro smut #Kento Nanami smut #Douma smut #Giyuu Tomioka smut #Gojo Saturo smut #Kokushibo smut

[nikofortuna]

JTTW Chapter 8 Thoughts

Chapter Eight for the @journeythroughjourneytothewest Reading Group! There’s a lot going on in this one as we meet most of the pilgrims and get their brief backstories. CW: There's a picture of cicadas under the cut.

The imagery near the start of flowers raining down as Buddha holds a lecture reminded me of this scene in a Cultivation Manhua I’m reading, where basically that happens as well.

Something I would like to mention upfront is this Manhua having some glaring problems, most apparently and arguably most outrageously the depiction of native people. Also some homophobic comments, but those are much less prevalent. So if you are interesting in reading it, keep that in mind.

Back to the chapter at hand, I’m honestly starting to get kind of annoyed by how often people belittle themselves. “Untutored/stupid”, “untalented” please get a grip all of you and stop selling yourselves short even as a formality or whatnot. Something like this can get internalized so fast if one is not careful that it should not be a constant formality anyway.

On a more enjoyable side note the “brows of new moon shape” is a traditional eyebrow make up style! And “ruddy lips” or in the J.F. Jenner translation “scarlet lips”, were quite the popular colour in the Tang Dynasty as well.

Our scripture pilgrim gets literal plot armour! It’s quite funny and also interesting to see this be an actual point in the narrative.

Also first mention of Golden Cicada! Aside from where the name comes from, I genuinely wonder if he personally likes cicadas. There certainly are plenty of pretty ones out there! I mean look at them!

Though how casual Buddha is about basically using torture to convert people… that’s just not a good look for anyone. Plus how nonchalant he goes like yeah, the scripture pilgrim is going to suffer, but hey he’ll like it! Does make you squint.

Moving on the Flowing Sand River in real world geography is actually made of sand! It is located at the western end of the Gobi desert. To be precise “Weak Water” refers to the it being quicksand. Courtesy of the German translation for this little fun fact!

So knowing this, Sha Wujing’s depiction in Xi Xing Ji/The Westward as well as the Flowing Sands River there being in an actual desert works really well with this. Aside from being incredibly cool in concept and execution of course.

During the fight I imagine Guanyin just watching from the shore with the Ancient Chinese equivalent of popcorn.

Also once again, the colour mentioned is not simply green! Nor blue. But rather verdant [青 Qīng].

Knowing they already sent for a few scripture pilgrims it is no wonder that Buddha asked Guanyin to survey the route this time and make sure it’s actually doable. That is probably also the reason he is giving the scripture pilgrim plot armour this time around.

Though Sha Wujing actually playing with the skulls is kind of cute to me. Maybe he’s even fidgeting with them instead of simply playing. It certainly wouldn’t surprise me given how much stress he must be under due to that weekly stabbing.

Ao Lie being punished like this for an accident. It was an accident for crying out loud! Discipline him a little if you must and teach him to be more cautious especially when doing anything with fire. But don’t just execute him! Ao Run is definitely not getting father of the year that much is certain.

Speaking of them, Sha Wujing’s punishment isn’t much better either. Accidents happen. Particularly the recurring stabbing is way over the top, that’s just too much.

Though Zhu Wuneng’s punishment I can actually agree with for a change. I mean flirting with Chang'e who’s whole ordeal is being faithful to her husband? That is just plain stupid and if you can’t control yourself while drinking, don’t drink. There really is no excuse here.

In all fairness after the whole Havoc in Heaven everyone was probably pretty on edge and the Jade Emperor ruled more strictly because of it at least for a while. But on the other hand if he would be so worried about a coup or something, ruling like that would lead to the exact opposite of what he intends.

Why would one commit a coup? If they are unhappy with the one who rules currently. So just make your people happy and rule with fairness and kindness and you should be fine. The Jade Emperor hasn’t been kind to Sun Wukong, which is what ticked him off to begin with.

Coming up on the Five Phases Mountain, Guanyin casually composing a poem is such a mood. When you are inspired, you just have to get it out.

However you cannot tell me she didn’t give the other two matching names with Sun Wukong on purpose.

Guanyin not giving the monkey essentially a headpat when she did the others though. Very sad, especially since Sun Wukong probably needed a little affection.

Flower Language Fun Fact! Don’t gift someone duckweed. As duckweed has no roots, in Chinese flower language it goes against the values of family and unity.

Also note the wisteria! We’ll see it again soon, and when that time comes I’ll explain what it means. For now all I’ll say is that it’s not an arbitrary flower.

#xiyouji #journey to the west #jttw #xixingji #the westward #cultivation chat group #guanyin #ao lie #sha wujing #zhu wuneng #sun wukong #monkey king #jttw reading group #jttw book club #cicada #bugs #cw bugs

[maiji]

[images: First three pages of a comic drawn in a digital ink-brush style with greyscale shading.]

fight / flight: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Alt text, full transcript and commentary continue below the cut.

A YYH North Bound story. This is "fight / flight" part 3 of 5 parts. This takes place after I Heard A Cicada Cry and Survive.

Content warning: Violence, blood, people fighting with swords.

[images: Remaining seven pages of comic.]

[page 16] *Hokushin slowly stands up, facing Otake, looking as if he’s in a daze. Then the look in his eyes changes.*

[page 17] *Hokushin’s arms both extend rapidly, one arm whipping out to grab his sword. Otake realizes that Hokushin's aiming for Otake's fallen sword with his opposite arm and quickly pounces for it before Hokushin’s other arm can reach it. Closeup of Hokushin’s feet as he dashes towards Otake.*

[page 18] *Hokushin screaming and charging at Otake as the latter blocks the attack*

[page 19] *Hokushin continuing to scream and cry while slashing viciously at Otake, who is now struggling to parry the blows.* Hokushin: How could you?! How could you?? Of all the humans!! Out of all the humans in this godforsaken world!!

[page 20] *Flashbacks of Semimaru: playing his biwa; smiling and pointing out a frog on a lilypad; hand reaching out to touch Hokushin’s face before they parted; walking off into the crowd at Ausaka Barrier.* Hokushin: (Semimaru…) …how could you…

[page 21] *Otake, who is taking a beating, loses control of his sword and it flies into the air spinning. In desperation he grabs his energy bracer again for one more power up, and shoots out another energy attack that slams Hokushin from the side, snapping his head/neck with great force.*

[page 22] *Hokushin is slammed face first to the ground. Otake has retrieved his sword and stands, panting. Hokushin has a flashback of him Semimaru walking through blossoms falling from the trees* Hokushin: (Live happily... Those few days were the happiest I had ever known. I have no desire for any more.) *He closes his eyes.* Otaku, raising his sword in a final attack: Ha!

[page 23] *A new figure with long flowing hair and a white ribbon wrapped around the forehead blocks Otake’s sword with a naginata.*

[page 24] *Powerful spirit energy emanates from the new warrior like a flame.* Otake: (Tomoe Gozen…!! Her spirit energy is as strong as the reports say…!)

[page 25] *Otake and Tomoe Gozen have an unblinking staredown - but Otake, with blood running down his face, is clearly not in the best of shape and is perturbed. He lowers his weapon.* Otake: …Have you any idea what you’re dealing with? Tomoe, adjusting her naginata stance: I care not. Any who seek to harm my lord and his men stand in the way of my blade.

…

Tomoe Gozen to Hokushin’s rescue yaaaaah!!! 

Yeaaaahhh I did it!! This is the scene I did test panel drawings for ~2 years ago (2021)! That sure makes the ~half a year it took to get this out since Part 2 feel a little shorter, haha. Part 3 was actually supposed to be the "short" part, but somehow it ended up being 10 pages and thus more pages than each of the previous 2 parts (8 and 7 pages, respectively). This is because action is hard to panel. I am very proud of myself for screaming and crying getting all the way through this; still a lot to improve on but I learned a lot and it is definitely not something I could have drawn back when I first started working on North Bound in 2017 (?! time flies). 

Semimaru pointing at the frog in the pond is supposed to be a cute moment from their travels for Hokushin to remember, and is a reference to Basho’s famous haiku. Except that's just a reference for us because this story takes place in the late Heian/early Kamakura period and Basho won't be born for another several hundred years (he lived during the Edo period) so it’s totally anachronistic. But so are rokurokubi anyways.

Please do not worry about Hokushin's neck on page 21, remember he's a rokurokubi so his neck can stretch further. Still hurts though. (And even with a boost from an artifact, Otake's blow was nowhere near as powerful as Yusuke's, since that one made Hokushin's neck twist several times.)

Japanese history buffs, kindly ignore the fact that due to Semimaru being dated to early Heian era and Kiso Yoshinaka and Tomoe Gozen living during the Genpei Wars it is very likely that at this point, even if Otake didn’t kill Semimaru, he would be dead regardless because normal human lifespans and all. But it’s ultimately the principle of the matter that he didn’t get to live out a peaceful life and was instead massacred by Otake. And who am I to not take advantage of creative license for the convenience of storytelling to compress time and whatever history anyways? And we don’t really know a lot of details about Semimaru anyways, and anyways this is a fanwork being done in spare time. Anyways anyways, thank you for your patience and understanding.

I am working on another behind the scenes post to show the progress from thumbs to page sketches, will link here when it’s up!

Update: Here's the behind the scenes!

#yu yu hakusho #hokushin #otake #fanart #comics #fancomics #blood #body horror #yyh north bound #tomoe gozen #semimaru #art by maiji/mary huang

[whoa-its-dani]

Some quick life-updates from yours truly:

Realized I was, in fact, nonbinary. Being honest with myself and being away from the internet really helped me figure that one out. I'm still largely in the closet, but I'm planning on where I go from here. I know I'm going to get top surgery or at least a reduction eventually, but that's a Future Leigh thing.

I developed a shellfish allergy which is a thing that can happen. Your body can just... decide it's allergic to shit. I know it's an immune system overreaction but wtf wtf wtf we've eaten shrimp and clams and crab our whole life wtf wtf wtf There's the slight possibility it was a spice or the ramen I was eating them with but like. It's more than likely the fucking shellfish.

I'm currently outside of the US right now and FAR away from home. I'm not immigrating, I'm just helping a friend with some housework and also getting my first vacay in like a decade. Also I dealt with quite a bit of ableism and assumed misogyny (bc still in closet) with immigration to the point they had to bring two different women officers to deal with my sitch. Like I don't wanna spread the stereotype of men being insensitive and women being "more compassionate" or w/e but yikes. I'm struggling so hard right now not to let that asshole taint all men. I'm beating that sexism back with a fucking bat.

My cynophobia is in severe decline, at least with smaller and some medium sized dogs! Anything bigger than like a corgi still triggers me (shaking, crying, panicking, etc.) but smaller dogs are so fucking cute and fun and snuggly!!! I love when they curl up in your lap and when they roll over for tummy rubs!!! I really miss my mom's dogs right now 😭 but I have a cat here so it's kind of ok

Had some True Crime shit happen to my family. My aunt (who's always been in poor health) passed away in her sleep. Her husband had her cremated asap, threw out all of her stuff, repainted the room she slept in, and then waited a week to tell the rest of the family... by text. Originally it looked like she had died in her sleep while he was at work, but then he admitted to his daughter (who then told the fam) that he had been home all day, that he lied to police about being at work, and that he was glad she was dead. So it's looking more and more like he killed her, or at least let her die. Like... he's always been an asshole. It's totally believable he killed her, but I hope (for everyone's sake) that he didn't and he's just being a selfish jackass who doesn't understand how sus he sounds.

My mental health has been the best it's been in years. I still have bad days (esp right now bc of the shit that happened with the border officer) but I'm kind of in awe that I'm like. Alive? Like I'm entering my late twenties. My first suicide attempt was when I was 11. I never imagined I would make it past 21. Bitch I'm still here!!! Life is not my problem, I am LIFE'S problem!

I learned how to make stroganoff and became mildly addicted to it for like a month.

Lived to see cicadas in the summer! Saw SO many!!! I think about them when winter makes me sad. They're my light at the end of the tunnel.

I ALSO SAW A BABY (ok more like a young) POSSUM!!! My dad discovered him in a box of apples we had outside. He was havin a FEAST lemme tell you. Boy went through like four apples that were about half his body size. Hell yeah.

I've currently been trying to exercise and strength train because I tried to climb a tree to get a cicada shell and yeah. I didn't even make it off the ground. Spaghetti ass arms. Right now I'm too sore from the travel (& stress & panic attack due to border issue) to see if my strength has improved, but I can definitely tell there are muscles in my arms and not just mush. Human bodies are so fucking weird and cool and shit.

I still remain uneducated and unemployed, but I actually checked out the GED study guide from the library earlier last year. I had a panic attack and ended up returning it, but... it's progress! A few years ago, I would've just passed it by. I actually opened it and looked in it and shit! Give me some more time and I'll actually be able to USE it and then get my GED and then bitche!!!! :D I've also decided I'm going to try to become a mortician. I doubt I have the patience to become a medical examiner, but I'd still like to work with the dead (not in a creepy way, I'm just better with dead folks) AND I got some family in the business back home (here's hoping I can use nepotism to my advantage teehee) so it's a good idea. I'm not saying it'll work out, but it's a plan.

I beat Pokemon Diamond again, and Skyrim. I made like four new characters but only ended up completing one (and they became a sneak archer because of course.)

I've done a little more sewing! I'm still kinda sucky at it and my brain can not figure out how the hell a back stitch works but I'm having a lot of fun!

Ok that's all I can think of right now but yeah. I'm surprised I haven't completely lost my mind yet but hey. There's still time 😌

I'll hopefully be more active on here in the upcoming days (bc I've missed my sweet little garbage trash site and all my gay little mutuals), but right now I'm just trying to exist in as little pain as I can. Very fatigued but also incredibly sore (shoulders, back, and legs).

I'm so grateful to all the kind messages and asks you guys have sent me while I was gone, and I hope your lives have been going well. Things are tough right now for everyone, and I hope you find the strength and support you need to go on. Fucking love you guys.

#Whoa's Posts #Whoa's stuff #Long Post #''quick'' post my ass right lol

[alatismeni-theitsa]

You wanted Greek productions for antiquity?

Take one! Full movie, English subs, and all!

Iphigenia (Greek: Ιφιγένεια) is a 1977 Greek film, filmed in Greece and directed by Greek Michael Cacoyannis. He adapted the film and the lines from his stage production of Euripides' play "Iphigenia at Aulis". The score was composed by the legendary Mikis Theodorakis!

It's Michael Cacoyannis' third movie in his "Greek tragedy" trilogy (after the release of Electra in 1962 and The Trojan Women in 1971).

The movie was nominated for one Oscar, Best Foreign Language Film. It was also nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival. Iphigenia received the 1978 Belgian Femina Award and received the Best Film Award at the 1977 Thessaloniki Film Festival, where Tatiania Papamoschou also received the Best Leading Actress Award for her role as Iphigenia. ___________________________________________________________

My comments after watching it:

I highly recommend this movie, DUH! For many reasons!

➡️ It just feels SO Greek!

It was filmed in Greece and they captured the blinding midday light and sound of the Greek summer (cicadas, finally!!!) and you can feel the scorching heat through the film. It was filmed in the ruins of a Mycenaean palace (you can see the lion's gate, for example) and other ancient sites.

It has an (almost) all-Greek cast. We see the abundance of Greek actors in their refined but natural appearance (with hair, beards, memorable faces) and in full Greek emotion. The boredom of hundreds of Greek men waiting on the beach is sheer, palpable. You understand why they put Agamemnon under so much pressure to do this sacrifice.

The slogan singing was reminiscent of those we yelled in school and on the football field, and it makes the experience so much closer to today's Greeks! It felt so real, I got whiplash! I thought "shiiit ancient people existed here and they were human like us!" The honest feeling and the intensity are still there when we hear songs by Greek men and women (*chef's kiss*, I promise!)

Some actors even speak with a palatal n (sounding like ñ) and l (think of it with a tilde. The sound of ñ but in l)! It's a type of old Greek accent that fades with time but listening to Agamemnon and Achilleas unapologetically deliver great lines with this accent just adds more authenticity to them. (Besides, is even Agamemnon a standard Greek countryside patriarch if he doesn't speak "with n and l"??)

➡️ Glorious acting!

The intensity! The poetic epic style of words! It's amazing! And why wouldn't it be? The scenario is a direct adaptation of the original Euripides' play! The extremely talented actors bring the lines to life. Chances are, you will cry. If you cry just by reading the play, you are GUARANTEED to cry!

CLYTEMNESTRA'S LULLABY OF TO IPHIGENEIA, I AM CRYING

the dialogue between Iphigeneia and her father, I AM TALKING ABOUT TEARS

"Iphigenia" herself? Heartwrenching performance! Bring tissues because these cute shining eyes are going to haunt your soul like you drew the knife on her!

➡️ Great moments!

(Cl.) We will leave in the morning (Iph.) But Father writes- (Cl.) Let him write. He is a man, what does he know?

The Greek phrase literally goes: "A man he is, he only knows so much"/"A man he is, that's what he knows" (aka, not much)

(yesss 100% Greek traditional wife xD "Oh, yes, my husband, my master! But I will kick your ass if you displease me, you hear me!")

Clytemnestra's character... what a goddess! She goes from "I drink the bitter glass of obedience drop by drop" to "No, by Hera, I' will not listen to you! The whole world is your dominion, so rule it! But in my household, I am the ruler!" in just a minute.

That's Greek traditional wives for you, I can't even bring myself to call it unrealistic xD

Another fave moment: Achilleas to Clytemnestra "- but forgive me, I haven't learned how to talk to women" and running away AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA xDDD

Honorable mention: the fast, very horny friends of Iphigeneia 😂

➡️ Miscellaneous

The haunting soundtrack

The clothing is very close to accurate and follows ancient depictions (of ancient statuettes) and when they got creative with it they did it in a realistic way!

➡️ "Negatives"

Unfortunately, Achilleas doesn't have the mythical blond mane but I suppose darker-haired men were more in fashion in 1977. 😂 But it seems like they robbed him of one of the most distinct features that made him seem special, like a demigod. Plus, he doesn't look very mighty. But the actor's voice and poise restore some of that glory.

There might be some lag in the video and for that, I apologize but it's what I could find. If you have better sources, you can post them in the reblogs! You might be able to find the movie on other sites.

Greeks know where to find the movie without subs, I think! *wink wink* But if you can't, dm me!

#Tatiania as Iphigeneia is DIVINE #Iphigenia #movie suggestion #ancient greece #ancient greek theater #euripides #classics #tagamemnon #clytemnestra #Achilleas #Achilles #poetry #tragedy #greek mythology #greek actors #greek people #greek actress #Youtube

[frankiekatt]

Wowy hii, saw that you're writing for slasher, so here I am!

Can I plz have some hcs about any slashers with s/o, but their s/o is a literal gremlin, like they're not serious at all, always joking and annoying people around, but sometimes might be quite soft and quiet.

Thank you and have a nice day! ❤️

This was fun to write lmao

Warnings: Sexual harassment, NSFW, murder, blood, canabilism

Characters: Thomas Hewitt, Bo Sinclair, Lester Sinclair, Billy Lenz, Stu Macher, Michal Myers

Slashers With An S/O That Never Takes Anything Seriously:

Thomas Hewitt:

Thomas is a little overwhelmed by your personality at first.

He’s a quiet and reserved man who’s never had any kind of friends, so goofiness and jokes can make him feel uneasy at first.

But!! He gets used to everything very quickly!!!

Thomas loves everything about you and he finds you to be incredibly charming.

He can get a little anxious when he sees you annoying Hoyt because he doesn’t want his uncle to do anything bad to you in irritation/retaliation.

Your jokes are always a stress reliever for him, since he spends most of his days in a dark basement, surrounded by blood and gore. Your humor just shines a little bit of light on his day, and he loves you for that!

While Luda Mae and Hoyt might not like the fact that you never take anything seriously, Thomas finds it relieving. At the beginning of your relationship, Thomas was terrified of losing you because he thought you would be terrified of all screams, murder, and cannabilism, but he was pleasantly surprised to see that you didn’t pay much mind to it.

Thomas’ family mostly saw you as a clown, but Thomas could only ever look at you as the brightest ray of sunshine that has ever graced his life.

After all, he was the only one that saw your softer side.

Your soft and quiet side mostly shone through during the evening. Something about the sunset and cicada chirping calmed your heart.

You would often take Thomas by the hand and lead him outside to sit on the front porch with you, so the two of you could cuddle and watch the sunset together.

Thomas was always so used to your voice, because you loved to talk about anything and everything, so your temporary quiet nature was new, yet comforting.

During these moments, there didn’t need to be any talking between the two of you. You deep emotional bond allowed you both to communicate through actions.

You would lay your head on Thomas shoulder, stroking his chest, and Thomas would wrap his big arms around your smaller frame, resting his masked cheek against the top of your head.

This was Thomas’ way of saying, “I love you, you’re the best thing in my life,” and your way of saying “I could never live without you.”

Bo Sinclair:

:|

You’re gonna annoy the fuck out of this boy

Sometimes you both wonder how the two of you even got together, but the nights you and Bo spent pleasuring each other, going round after round, reminded you both how. (Your both just sexy okay its that simple)

Bo was a serious guy, so he was a little miffed that he was always the one having to take the lead in everything since you just couldn’t stop making a joke out of everything.

Sometimes you would actually make him really irritated due to your tendency to irk people endlessly, so he would have to step away to cool off and blow off some steam.

Sometimes he would yell at you in anger, which always made him feel like shit after, so he tended to stalk off to his shop to calm down before speaking to you.

You would have to go see him a couple hours later to wrap your arms around him from behind and shyly apologize to him.

He favored these moments the most.

Your voice quieter than usual, focusing on just him, touching him gently.

He would always accept your apologies, of course, and would let you know by kissing your lips softly.

Bo liked to take advantage of your softer side by lifting you up by your waist and setting you on the hood of whatever car he had been working on and kissing down your neck.

As revenge, Bo liked to draw out his teasing as long as possible. Kissing down your neck, chest, stomach, massaging your pussy through your skirt, palming your breast roughly.

It gets to a point where you just have to tell him, “Bo, I need you to fuck me.”

And he would oblige.

He would take you right then and there, on the hood of the car.

The metal beneath you was always shockingly cold, making you shiver against Bo’s chest.

“You cold, Darlin,” Bo would ask teasingly as he pulled your panties off. “Don’t worry, I’ll warm you right up.”

He would spend hours licking your pretty pink pussy if he could. He licks and sucks and kisses your most intimate part until you're shaking and crying above him, begging him to fuck you sensless.

After he’s satisfied with your helplessness, he’ll lean back up and ram himself inside of you. There have been many nights where he has taken you gently and slowly in his garage, holding your hand with every thrust, kissing your sweet lips to quiet your whimpers, but tonight was different. There was a primal need shared between you two. Bo wanted to let his frustrations on through loving you, and you wanted to be taken hard and fast.

When the two of you are done, you lounge around inside the car to catch your breath, holding hands. Everything seems so perfect.

Until-

“Hey, Bo? What did the toaster say to the slice of bread?”

“.....”

“I want you inside me! Eh ha ha..”

:////

Lester Sinclair:

!!!!!

You like constantly joking and never taking things seriously? He does too!!

Lester would find you absolutely hilarious. Every joke you cracked would have him doubling over in laughter. Which would make you double over in laughter. Which would make Lester laugh harder, because now you both have the giggles and both of your laughs are just too infectious.

Everytime the two of you would go to Ambrose to visit his brothers, you guys would annoy the hell out of Bo and Vincent. Bo just wants to be left alone to work in his shop but instead he’s stuck listening to you tell a 40 minutes story about how you burnt dinner last night.

And Vincent just wants to be left alone to paint and sculpt but instead he’s here listening to Lester crack jokes that are a.) not funny and b.) don’t make any sense. -_-

Your and Lester’s trailer is always filled with so much love and laughter and the two of you could not be any happier.

You both have your own soft and quiet moments that hit at random times.

Sometimes it happens when the two of you are play fighting in the living room, howling with laughter. You both fall to the floor, wrestling and giggling until the both of you run out of breath and just gaze at each other as you lay on the carpet.

“You look so cute,” he giggles.

“No, YOU look so cute!”

“W-well!!! I love you!!”

“Uhm...well...I love you MORE.”

And it just turns into an argument about who adores the other more.

Billy Lenz (1974):

The perfect couple.

Literally.

The two of you are always joking around, cackling and goofing about every little thing.

Billy has finally found his soulmate and he could not be happier.

He two of you prank the sorority girls together, making sex sounds in unison to sound even more vulgar.

Everytime you crack a joke, you get worried Billy is joking because of how hard he’s laughing.

“Umm Billy you okay? It wasn’t even that funny.”

“HA haha...piggy makes me laugh...Billy loves your jokes.”

Needless to say, your relationship is filled with smiles, laughter, and praise.

Billy will tell you you’re the funniest person he’s ever met and he wants to keep you forever.

You tell Billy you love how much he laughs at your antics and that you can’t live without him.

It’s impossible to annoy Billy. It’s just not feasible.

Any time you try, he’ll just giggle and pat your head, telling you you’re his ‘favorite piggy ever.’

He LOVES when you annoy the sorority girls thoug!

Hearing you moan and squeal and speak so sexily vulgarly to Barb and Jess makes Billy so proud. And horny.

Almost all of your sexual encounters are filled with complete silliness.

Sometimes, however, the joking and cackling subside. The two of you will just be chilling, nothing else to do, and you just feel the need to profess your love for your boyfriend.

“I love you so much Billy.”

Billy will look startled at your sudden outburst, before he breaks out in a huge grin, launching across the room to tackle you into a hug.

“Billy loves you too! Billy loves you more than anything!!!”

Now the rest of your day will be spent in Billy’s arms, whispering sweet nothings to each other.

Stu Macher:

Match made in Heaven!

Stu loves to joke around.

He hardly ever takes anything seriously.

He annoys everyone.

And once he meets you? It's love at first sight.

The two of you are always in detention because you guys just cannot shut up in class. You are always disrupting something.

But you know what that means!

Detention dates <3

As long as the two of you together, Stu couldn't care less about where he was.

He and Billy appreciate your habit of not taking anything seriously because once the murders start occuring, you don't think too much about it, never asking questions or arousing suspicion around your boyfriend and his bestie.

When Billy had told Stu his plan to kill Sydney, and asked him if he was going to kill you as well, Stu’s heart sank.

He remembers when he was dating Tatum, just a few months ago, before he broke up with her for you, he had no qualms about killing her,

But you?

He loved you. You were his other half. The one person who understood him, who accepted him. He could never hurt you.

“Nah dude. I’m leaving her out of this.”

That night, he sneaks through your bedroom window to see you.

“Stu! (where the hell have you been loca) What’re you doing here?”

The sparkling smile you flash at him and the love swimming in your big, beautiful eyes makes him feel even guitler.

He feels bad that you’re dating a serial killer. He thinks you deserve better, but he would never let you go.

“Hey babe! I just missed you!”

You rushed over to him, dressed in kitty cat pajamas, and hugged him tight. He had only snuck through your bedroom window a couple of times before, and they had all been planned. Seeing him in your room as a surprise made your heart burst with happiness.

Stu led you to your bed and pulled you up onto his chest to cuddle you. It was late, and the both of you were tired. Stu just wanted to lay with you in silence, appreciating your presence.

You didn’t feel like releasing your usual high energy at the moment. Right now, you just wanted to fall asleep on your boyfriend’s chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat.

Michael Myers:

Girl

Michael does not appreciate your antics.

Annoying him is easy, but you would never know that.

He keeps his emotions very private, so when he is annoyed he’ll just stalk away from you.

He does not think you’re funny :(

He does enjoy your quiet moments. He likes to come home when your energy is low.

He’s usually covered in blood when this happens, so you clean him up without cracking a joke which he appreciates.

You’ll turn on a movie for the both of you, and Michael lets you cuddle up with him.

He does like you, he just doesn’t want you to know that...

#frankie writes #frankiekatt #slashers #slashers x reader #slashers imagines #slashers x you #thomas hewitt #thomas hewitt imagines #thomas hewitt x reader #thomas hewitt x you #texas chainsaw massacre #tcm #Bo sinclair #bo sinclair imagines #bo sinclair x reader #bo sinclair x you #house of wax #lester sinclair #lester sinclair imagines #lester sinclair x reader #leaster sinclair x you #billy lenz #billy lenz imagines #billy lenz x reader #billy lenz x you #black christmas #black christmas 1974 #scream #stu macher #stu macher imagines

[chil2de]

Hi!! if possible can i please request yuuta having a girlfriend that’s his childhood friend? (So like instead of rika it’s y/n and she doesn’t die) that loves to dote on him cause that boy needs some love. Thank you!! <3

PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE THIS MADE ME SO SOFT!!!!! ohmygod!!!! growing up with yuuta would be THE best onshdhfsh thank you sososos much anon this was such a pleasure to write! i don’t know why but the “and she doesn’t die” had me screaming LMFAOOOO

enjoy! no warnings, just old fashioned cute fluff and heart wrenching moments! thank you for giving me the opportunity to write for the best boy mwaaah you deserve eternal happiness! hope no insects bite you during these warm months <3

“okkotsu!” you cried out, feminine and shrill voice ringing in the air. the cicadas chirped melodiously, calling out their delightful songs in the spring air.

the young boy staggered around, losing his balance from spinning too fast. his fragile hands reached out, pulling in small grabby motions towards your innocent and joyous face.

you were always so optimistic, even when you were younger. yuuta could only huff and wail as his caretaker hauled him away from the playground, gesturing it was time for him to come home. thick and messy tears spilled out the corners of his eyes which hadn’t yet endured countless sleep devoid nights.

he was so far away, but that was okay because you knew you’d see him the very next day.

“okkotsu! promise to play with me again tomorrow!” you cupped your hands, exclaiming as much as your little lungs could endure. yuuta could see the tears heavy in your gaze, but even then, you prevailed. you grinned, all for him.

ever since the very start. till ‘death do us apart.

-

“okkotsu! come oooon, don’t cry, okay? (y/n)’s got your back! see, see?! look! they don’t bite!” you braved a smirk on your features, beckoning the shy and introverted young man over. his face looked uncertain and his lips wobbled as though he could crack at any moment. he took a few cautious steps, maintaining his distance between you and the furry animal on the floor.

“r-really? it won’t bite?” he coughed, reaching his unstable fingertips out.

“eh?! that’s the first time you’ve spoken to me! your voice is so nice! it’s so cool! hey! can i hear it again? pleaaaase? i know you’re shy but i’d really like to hear it! hey, okkotsu, say my name? pretty please?”

“um- i, uh.. it’s okay.. you can call me yuuta.”

-

“yuuta! you’re going to be late for your first day of junior high! i totally told you to wake up on time too!” you stood with your hands rested firmly on your hips, face stern and tone impatient.

“sorry! sorry- it’s um, my hair. i don’t know how to style it.” he admitted, albeit sheepishly by trailing the last few words off into a murmur. you only gave him a sigh before kneeling down behind him, propping yourself up to take a look at his hair in the reflection of the mirror.

“how on earth are you so tall already? we eat the same food, you know. slouch over a little.” you pinched his cheeks before glossing over his hair.

when you ran your fingertips through his hair, you felt butterflies and anxiety rock your stomach.

that’s never been there before.

you’ve touched yuuta countless times, whether that was accidentally hitting him, holding his hand to cross the street…

so why was it different?

you could feel yuuta’s body tense up and run rigid underneath your touch.

that definitely wasn’t there before.

“relax. it’s me.” you cooed quietly, roughing up his hair into different styles.

“like this? looks like you just woke up, sorta, but i think it’s cute.”

yuuta’s heart rate skyrocketed through the roof and his breath hitched.

“cute?” he reiterated, chewing out the phrase like he’d never heard it before in his life.

“hm? yeah-“

you caught his gaze in the mirror, eyes half lidded and attention averted. the tips of his ears were tainted a deep red with small flicks of blush painting his cheeks.

“eh?! nononono- not like that i’m- i just think it suits you, you know? oh, crap, would you look at the time? okay we gotta go and leave!” you clambered out of his bedroom, thudding the door shut behind you.

yuuta only gawked at you with bewilderment, lips slightly parted and fingertips outstretched in his failed attempt to stop you.

he turned to himself in the mirror, studying his features before running one hand through his jet black locks.

“cute, huh?” he muttered, avoiding his own judgemental gaze.

-

the bittersweet part about growing up with a childhood friend is change.

for all the time that you’d spent with yuuta, you didn’t realise that your relationship with him was something to not take for granted.

especially with those around you who would kill for what you two have.

you’d always get mundane questions from high school girls who thought they could have a shot with him, “what’s his type?” “do you think he likes me?”

meanwhile you only played along with their charades, laughing inwardly when he was actually extremely introverted.

“so? what’s the deal with you and okkotsu-san? you guys dating?”

“no. we’re just friends.”

“seriously? you guys are always glued at the hip. you know he has a picture of you in his locker, right?”

“yeah? so do i. it doesn’t mean anything.”

“it’s kind of a shame, he’s such a nice young man.. gone to waste like that..”

“what’s gone to waste?” yuuta inquired with an indifferent tone, plopping down beside you with his bento box. the classmate sat opposite you only gave him a phony cheerful temperament, twirling her index finger around her hair.

“oh! okkotsu-senpai! we were just talking about you! how was your da-“

“please leave.”

you could only gape at him in your peripherals, sputtering on your sandwich as you watched the life drain from your classmate at his monotony. yuuta didn’t spare you or the girl a glance as he worked to unpack his lunch, hell the guy even murmured a small itadakimasu as if nothing happened.

“wh- okkotsu senpai?”

“listen.” he let out a deep sigh before proceeding.

“whatever shot you thought you had with me? it’s gone out the window. don’t disrespect (y/n) in front of me like that again.”

“you’re making us uncomfortable, so get up and go.” he motioned with his chopsticks, giving her a dead gaze towards another table.

the girl scoffed, mouth hung wide open as she picked up her bag and stormed out of sight.

whilst your face was as blank as a stone, internally, you were only screaming in the depths of piping hot hell visible from the sun itself.

baby girl? that was when you noticed how fucking fine of a man yuuta grew up to be.

“that was seriously nerve wracking.. my stomach hurts so bad right now” yuuta coughed through a bite of his sandwich, refusing to meet your gaze.

you slapped his back, because, holy shit??? awe painted your face like you just witnessed your own child talking or walking for the first time.

“what the shit? yuuta? are you kidding?”

“oh, huh? did i overdo it or something?“

“no?! are you kidding? that was fucking awesome! i swear! this is why i love you-“

oh.

uh oh.

oh no.

yuuta let out a shrill squeak unbeknownst to any human being able to produce such a volume. it was a cross between a floorboard creaking, a mouse sniffing and him choking on his food. the poor boy had to excuse himself to the bathroom, hacking and sniffling in an ugly fit of coughs from the food that got caught in his windpipe.

your blood rushed to your head, veins lit ablaze, bones rattling as you could hear the chatter pound and drill into your skull, scoring you deep and down into your bones.

“did she just say she loves him?”

“i totally knew they were going out!”

“i can’t believe it…”

“do you think he’ll reject her?”

it replayed over, and over, and over. what a fucking fool you felt. did he even feel the same?

that’s why i love you.

i love you.

i love you.

a blob of black clouded your vision and you could hear the glass breaking.

yuuta sat himself back down, excusing himself.

you could hear nothing but the tune of his heartbeat. or was it yours? it sounded too heavy to belong in either of your bodies.

his voice came as a wobble because of his anxiety, but this was the one thing in his life he’d be absolutely certain of.

“that’s okay. i love you too.”

-

“yuuta? you okay? you’ve been spacing out for at least five minutes. something on your mind?” you lightly shake your boyfriend, grip reassuring but firm. it takes a couple of seconds for his gaze to gloss over as he returns back to reality.

“sorry. was just thinking about our childhood, that’s all.” his voice comes out deep and masculine. it doesn’t have that tremor as it used to before, like he’d break down at any minute.

you can say with absolute certainty as you stare up your entire 5’10 boyfriend that he’s matured well.

his hand snakes around to your waist, pulling you into him for comfort.

some ways better than others, you suppose.

“can we stay home today?” he hums, resting his chin on top of your head,

“same as ever, yuuta, aren’t you? it’s fine, i’ll tell nobara my period’s making me act up. she’ll understand-“

“hm? you’re not due for another week though, right?”

you crease your eyebrows as you type out an apology to nobara for cancelling plans, glancing up at yuuta curiously.

“how the heck do you know that?”

“i’m not supposed to? i’d always count your cycle so i wouldn’t irritate you on the wrong day. besides, don’t you think it was too convenient for you to always find snacks in your locker when it rolled around?”

“those snacks were you?! oh my god! i was trying to figure that out for forever!”

“i know. i remember you ranting to me about it.”

“you just sat there?! yuuta! you’re so cheeky sometimes, i swear!”

“only for you.” he chimes, peppering a soft kiss onto your head. you smile against him, though unfortunately pry out of his familiar and welcoming touch.

“i’m gonna step out for a second tho, ‘kay? i think that’s itadori at the door with my chocolate and painkillers” you snort, giving yuuta a bold wink as you put on your best act, keeling over and clutching at your abdomen as though you’re on death’s door.

“you’re awful.” yuuta chuckles, slumping down onto the sofa to hear the events unfold right in front of him.

you clear your throat and slouch your shoulders as you pry the apartment door open.

“(y/n)-senpai! i came as fast as i could and i brought you some of your favourite sna- oh, okkotsu-senpai! hello!”

“hi there.” he leans his head back, giving itadori a small wave.

“i won’t interrupt you guys so get well soon! and fast! cause i wanna hang out with you! bye!”

you cradle the necessities itadori brought whilst gleaming at yuuta with a wicked grin plastered on your face from ear to ear.

“you want anything?” you cock an eyebrow, showing him the arrangement of snacks.

it’s not the answer you were expecting, but it definitely wasn’t unwelcome. it made you feel warm inside, like eating warm and soothing soup on a cold winter’s day. this, for you, was okkotsu yuuta at his best, stripped clean and vulnerable.

you’re the only one who he can relax around, act like the world is carefree. like he’s young again, prancing around in that dingy colourful playground he met you at.

“i want you to kiss me.”

#okay hold up #yuuta’s little ‘hi there’ HAS ME ACTING TF UP #OOOOOOOHHH THIS MAN #anyways i hope i wrote him well!! #jjk #jjk x reader #jjk imagines #jjk scenarios #jjk headcanons #okkotsu yuuta #jjk yuuta #yuuta x you #yuuta x reader #okkotsu x reader #yuta okkotsu x reader #yuta okkotsu imagines #yuuta okkotsu

[jackie5656]

The Fight

With; Newt (TMR)

A/N: Kind of a long one guys. Thank you again for all the love. I appreciate every like, reblog, and comment. Enjoy!

Warnings: mention of suicidal thoughts/attempt, anxiety, minor panic attack, Minho being an ass (I promise it’s not all depressing and sappy there is a good amount of angst/fluff ofc)

“Bugger off Newt, I want to be left alone.” The boy trails behind as you stomp over to the forest, figuring collecting fertilizer would be better than having to tolerate the pestering blonde any longer.

“Don’t you want someone to keep you company?”

“Am I still speaking English? Leave me be.” It’s been a long day, and a part of you is still getting used to the harsh, mundane work days of the glade since you’re arrival a few months ago. It’s been a lot of pressure, but surprisingly you’ve managed to hold it together. It’s impressive too, you’ve managed to adapt better to your new life better than any other glader had. Perhaps that was why the boy was so drawn to you.

It’s not like he had wanted to be. In fact, Newt would have been more than happy treating you like any other glader. But it just so happened the one and only girl in the glade just had to be a natural track-hoe, so there was no avoiding her. Not her smooth skin, glistening eyes, or her infectious laugh-

“Hello? Would you quit it, shank? It’s like you want to get me jacked.”

“Maybe I just like seeing you all riled up.” You can feel the smirk playing on his stupidly Cherry-red lips as he teases you, quickening his pace so he can grab the straggling branches of the thick forest out of your way. Your stomach flips at his words, but it’s quickly filled with hot anger as the nervousness fades. He won’t quit flirting, and despite your quit wit you’re finding it harder to snap back at him when he says things like that. He doesn’t even mean it

“You’re infuriating!”

“And you’re gorgeous.” The words slip past his tongue before he can catch him, and your footsteps stutter over a stray twig amongst the brush on the ground. You almost trip, but the glader behind you is quick to catch your forearm. It’s silent, and you’re darting your head around just fast enough to catch the stunned look on his face, informing you he hadn’t meant to voice the compliment aloud. Your eyes narrow, trying your best to ignore the longing temptation within you begging to kiss away the stupid blush in his cheeks.

“You know, instead of searching the forest for fertilizer, I should just pick up all the klunk that comes out of your mouth.” The harsh words come without much thought, but you don’t completely regret saying them. If he was actually interested, he wouldn’t be so keen on making you annoyed every minute of every day.

His eyebrows narrow, but if your snarky comment provoked any thought he doesn’t voice it.

“Shuck, sorry then newbie. I’ll slim it.”

“Listen, I was a newbie four greenies ago! So you can stop calling me that.” You spin on your heel to face him, standing your ground when he stops short in order to not run you over. When you meet eyes, he gives a kind smile, studying your features intently. Almost as if you were in a daze, you do the same. Relishing in the sounds of the nature around you and the warm sun beaming through the tree tops, perfectly illuminating the lightest streaks in the taller boy’s hair. You hadn’t notice before, but there are small puddles of gold in his deep brown eyes, speckled about in his irises and disappearing when he tilts his head to the side in feigned curiosity. He licks his lips before letting his accented voice break the silence.

“What’s up with you?”

“What? Nothing.”

“You’ve got that look about you.”

“What look?”

“That look.”

“I don’t have a look.”

“Well, I’m looking at you right now, and you have a look.”

“What look?!” He grins at your suddenly aggravated persistence, holding back a laugh when you let out a dramatic groan and start to tread deeper into the woods. 

Later that night, you’re making conversation with Frypan as you help with the dishes. He’s good company, and most times mundane chores like cleaning up after other gladers seem to fly by when he’s around. You let out a sigh when a familiar hand reaches out to help you take out one of the heavier pots from the drying rack. 

“Didn’t know you were a cook, greenie.”

“Maybe I;’m just trying to avoid you.”

“Impossible, you’d miss me too much.” 

“What do you want, shank.”

“What, I can’t help out too?”

Just then, you’re pulled away by the forearm with a strong yank. Releasing yourself from Mihno’s grip and rubbing the excess suds off of your hands quickly.

“What the hell?”

“Listen, you want him to quit being a shank towards you right?”

“Of course I do Minho, but-“

“Then flirt with me.”

“Wh-what?”

“Flirt with me, squeeze my arm and laugh like I just said something really funny.”

“You’re already saying something funny. You must be jacked.” You attempt to blow your friend off and walk away, but he pulls you toward him again.

“Just humor me for a minute, yeah? Let’s see how riled up this shank gets.”

“Minho, he’s not going to get mad. He lives to annoy me, he’ll be happy to see you’re joining in on the fun!”

“Y/n, you’re not seriously this dense? The poor shank likes you, he’s just got no idea how to show it. The playful banter you two have, although it’s cute, is starting to get old. So, because I’m an amazing friend and wing-man, I’ll help you shanks out. Now squeeze my arm and laugh.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Don’t believe me?” His challenging smirk is enough for you to give in, determined to prove the raven haired boy wrong. Setting aside your irritated mood, you adjust your hunched stance before giving Minho your most charming smile. Muttering idly and pressing his bicep with a dramatic laugh. He shoots you a glare when you pinch with a little too much passion, but a smirk stays on his face nonetheless. He moves just a bit closer to you, eyes darting across the glade and smile widening.

“See she-bean? He’s practically fuming.” The boy does all he can to contain his laughter, pulling himself together when you offer a subtle glance to the blonde across the glade. He’s leaning against the now empty sink with his arms crossed. Looking too angry to even begin to make his death glare towards Minho any less obvious. Admittedly, you don’t think you’ve seen Newt ever look so flustered. When you lock eyes, his lips remain tightly pressed together. Not long after does he turn back around to continue attending to the dishes. All whilst muttering something under his breath and shaking his head.

“Don’t get so cocky, you’re blushing too you shank.” You swat Mihno’s hand pinching your cheek, genuinely laughing when he nudges you out of the homestead hut.

“I’ll probably be banished by sundown for that.”

“You think he’s really that upset about it? I mean, I know we’re good friends and all but I never expected Newt to see me like that.”

“It’s a good thing I’m one of the only shanks around here with a brain.”

“Y/n, mind if I talk to you for a bit?” Alby approached the pair of you with a soft expression, his gentle nature filling you with a bit of concern. You nod hesitantly, feeling as though every damn glader needed to pull you from one conversation to the next tonight. You follow Alby closely as he leads you back into the homestead, sitting on one of the hammocks and motioning for you to do the same. There’s a contemplative silence before the head glader speaks, only taking him a few moments to gather his thoughts before meeting your eyes.

“I gotta be honest greenie, I’m a bit worried about you.”

“Why me?” Your eyebrows narrow in confusion, and the older boy’s worried tone makes your heart sink.

“Most of the newbies are jacked the first couple weeks. You know, lashing out one minute and crying like a baby the next. But you’ve been quite, collected. That leaves a lot of room for me to be concerned.”

“Alby, you’re upset that I’m not...Upset?”

“I’m upset that you remind me of myself. I was a lot like you, I kept everything in when I first got here. I was reserved, and I kept everything bottled up inside. And I’m no therapist, but that quickly tore me apart. I understand being a girl might...Complicate things, seeing as some of these shanks expect you to be weaker. You don’t have to prove yourself greenie, at least not in that way.” You take a minute to consider his words, chewing on the inside of your cheek in thought. He studies you for a moment, seemingly thinking about his next words with caution. “I don’t mean to jack you up, just think about it.” He finishes carefully, nudging your shoulder with his own before exiting the hut. Giving you a tight lipped smile and curt nod before disappearing from view. Was that supposed to be a pep talk?

**************

The past weeks had been confusing, terrifying, and downright unbelievable. That was clear, but didn’t you have no other choice than to accept what was going on? You still had millions of questions, and a certain ache in your heart that felt like it was pulling at you. But there wasn’t time to break down, not yet anyway. Is there even a right time? The conversation with Alby seemed to have made you worse off than before. You shuffle for the hundredth time in your hammock, letting out an exasperated sigh at the restless situation.

Despite your efforts, sleep never comes. For the past week, you’ve been exhausted just about everyday. Today had been no different, except when you try to relax, anxiety crawls in the air around you. Suddenly, the warm night air is absolutely suffocating. It’s too much pressure, too much unknown for you to handle it any longer. When your pounding heartbeat begins to drown out the cicadas and other sounds of the glade, you can only think of one thing. Alby was right

Stumbling out of your hammock, you start making your way out of the hut. It doesn’t matter where, you just need to escape. Even when you’re outside, there’s still not enough room. The four walls that once felt like a barrier between you and the horrors of the ominous maze, now feel like a cage. Trapping you inside and shrinking impossibly smaller until they eventually crush you.

Without thinking, you begin to sprint over to the west wall, pounding at the menacing stone and letting out a chocked sob. All at once, every emotion you’d suppressed since your first day in the glade releases from you. It’s nauseating, and you grip your stomach in an attempt to latch onto some sense of stability.

Who put you here? Why was everyone so indifferent to their lives here, and why had you eventually become the same way?

There’s been this ache, some rotting substance in your core that’s been emanating within you since you first woke up in the box. A horrible, indescribable hollowness that is the result of the loss of what must have been your life before the maze. Suddenly, you miss your mom. Or maybe a woman who resembled one. It’s mortifying, to know you must have parents somewhere out there. But you can’t remember them, can only feel the ugliest parts of you that aren’t whole without them. Your vision blurs, and there’s an awful white noise that drowns out any and all sounds of reality surrounding you. Completely immersed in your own thoughts, even the ground beneath you feels as though it’s been meticulously sculpted by whatever monsters put you here. It’s impossible to breath, feeling as though every beat of your heart, every blink of an eye is in the control of the creators. So caught up in your own panic, you don’t sense the boy calling your name behind you.

You attempt to squirm out of his strong grip, his stature never showing how strong he truly is from his long hours in the gardens. It’s no use to keep pulling away when his back hits the stone wall of the glade, using his strong grip to hold your hands against your chest as he slides you both to the floor. Weaker leg giving out from the sheer strength needed to restrain you. Newt’s not sure if he’s helping or making your panicked state even worse, but he’s reassured when you begin to calm. Erratic cries faltering into small whimpers as your head uncontrollably jerks at each sharp intake of air your body forces you to take. You can feel his heart beat rapidly against your back, informing you just how scared he is despite his stoic nature on the outside. You try to release from his grip once again, instincts telling you there’s too much to worry about to calm down. The blonde pulls you closer to him once more, hushing your cries and leaning his chin atop of your head. The world feels authentic again, and you silently think out a plethora of thank you’s to the boy for immersing you back into reality. Doing your best to cease your cries and gain control of your breathing, you grip onto the fabric of his long sleeve sleeping shirt with a terror-induced strength. It’s all too much

“Just breathe y/n, breathe with me.” He mutters softly, chest filling with pride when you mimic his dramatic intakes of air.

The ringing subsides, and the white clouding your vision finally clears when your heart begins to slow. Eventually, Newt releases your arms. And in an instant, you clutch onto his hand in fear the crippling panic will return. Rip you away from everything you’ve come to know in only seconds.

“You’re alright now love, just breathe.” He soothes again, not even flinching at your harsh grip on him. The minute you had left your hammock, something within him beckoned him to follow. You’d been off the past couple of days, and somehow the boy knew you couldn’t be alone. His eyes well with tears, you having reminded him so much of himself his first year in the glade. He wonders what you would have done if he hadn’t caught you in time, and what lengths you would have gone to if the pain never stopped and the maze walls opened. He wills away the thought with a shake of his head, reminding himself that you’re still here, and in dire need of a friend.

“I miss my mom.” You stutter out eventually, soft lips trembling and pulled into a pitiful pout. “I don’t remember her of course, but it’s like I can feel her. I feel everything and nothing at the same time, you know? There’s so much death here, it’s been hard to find something to live for. How am I supposed to do this, how are we supposed to survive this? I mean...This has gotta be some sort of sick joke, nobody could be this shucking cruel right?” You let out a pathetic scoff, still shaking uncontrollably in his arms.

“Listen to me y/n, I’ve been where you are. We all have, and I can promise you there is so much more than that feeling. You have to believe me.” You shake your head, refusing to accept his empty promises. He sighs before continuing, trying to gather his thoughts in preparation to confess what he’s kept secret from almost all other gladers until now. “A couple weeks into my first year here, I couldn’t shake the same feeling you’re describing. That dark, ominous part that sits inside of all of us here. The unknown, the memories begging to re-enter your mind. I hated it, I hated this place, and I hated myself.” You lift your head from his shoulder at that, wanting to study his contemplative expression as he carries on. “Eventually, I couldn’t take it. So I ran out into the maze....And I did what I assume you’ve been thinking about the past couple of days. And I can assure you, nothing you do to yourself with get rid of that pain. That’s why we survive, we persevere, we fight. It might have taken a shattered leg and permanent limp for me to realize, but I know now the only way to beat that feeling is to escape this shucking place. What comes next doesn’t matter, we have to show whatever slintheads put us here that they won’t ever win. Do you understand?” His expression becomes stern, willing each word to bore into your mind as a permanent oath. Stunning brown eyes boring into yours as if they’ll cement each syllable into your mind. You nod, unsure of how to respond.

“You have to promise me.” He mutters softly, eyes welling with tears at your empty expression. “Please love, promise me you’ll fight.” He’s holding your head in his hands now, silently willing the overwhelming demons your facing to escape that beautiful mind.

“P-promise. I promise.” You reassure weakly, overcome with love for the boy under you. Instantly, you encase him in a tight embrace. Heart swelling even more when he plants a soft kiss to your temple.

“Good that.” He breathes gently, pulling you impossibly closer to his heart. Just to hold you for a little while longer. You have to fight, and you’ll do it together.

Tagging: @8avery8 @jenny33996

#imagines #fanfic #fiction #death cure #minho x reader #newt maze runner #newt x reader #scorch trials #the maze runner imagine #thomas maze runner #tmr teresa #tmr fanart #newtmas #the maze runner #dylan obrien #thomas brodie sangster #tmr gally #tmr newt #frypan maze runner #james dashner #benny watts #thomas sangster #minho maze runner

[amjustagirl]

Summary: She may mean the world to Iwaizumi Hajime but at the end of the day, Oikawa Tooru is his star. 

AO3 Link here

Sequel: Broken Compass

She used to think the universe intended for her to literally  crash into one Iwaizumi Hajime. 

One of her first assignments as a writer for one of the country’s top sports magazines was to cover the Japanese volleyball team’s season, and despite constant reminders from her editors  not  to screw this up because the men’s volleyball team is crazy popular these days, she manages to trip over her own feet and knock not just herself, but the newly minted team trainer to the ground. 

When she lifts her head from the ground, the first thing that hits her mind is -  goodness, he’s hot  -  he’s a veritable god among men, all sinewy muscles and sunkissed skin, and she can’t bring herself to speak as he carefully checks her once over for any signs of injury. ‘Are you alright?’ he asks her, and she nods dumbly as he pulls her to her feet and waves her off with a warm smile. The heat from his hands lingers on her skin long after she goes to bed that night. 

They meet again at the next match. He remembers her name, she gives him a friendly wave. Then at the next match, she cheekily asks for his comments and he huffs a laugh as he directs her to the team’s PR manager. By the end of the season, she works up the courage to ask him out for coffee, and he says yes . 

 Iwaizumi Hajime is everything she dreamt of in a partner - kind, caring, steady, his feet firmly planted on the ground. He always wraps his arm around her to pull her close when they walk along the edge of the road, and indulges her pleas for an extra cuddle – ‘ the last one, I promise! ’ - every morning when he leaves for work. They exchange long text messages late into the night when either of them are on the road, and nag each other for working too hard. When they lay in bed at night, he whispers promises filled with love against her skin, tells her he can trace the constellations in her eyes. 

It makes it so easy for her to close her eyes and believe that their love is written in the stars, so a year later when he asks her to marry him, she doesn’t hesitate to jump into his arms and say yes . The weight of the silver band he slips on her finger grounds her with his love, and her heart is full. 

She can’t stop feeling like a thief who’s snatched the sun from the sky. 

Oikawa Tooru is to be his best man of course. 

She knows who he is, she’s covered the sport long enough to have heard about him - the prodigious setter from Miyagi who never made it once to Nationals despite his obvious talent (an exquisitely crafted  katana  is, after all, no match for the brute force of a cannon), who spit in the face of fate and chased his dreams to sunnier lands. 

Iwaizumi has always been awfully fond of regaling her with stories of Oikawa, so much so that she thinks she can piece together their relationship - childhood friends turned longtime teammates, the long suffering ace and the monstrously brilliant setter. She watches his face soften uncharacteristically when he reads news about his old friend winning a match, and hardens when Oikawa whines loudly during their video calls about his bruises and sore knee. She can’t help but think Iwaizumi must have been like Jupiter, a god in his own right, drawn into orbit around Oikawa, a star burning over-bright. 

She knows they remain best friends despite their separation by whole continents, keeping in contact via video calls and text messages, playing hopscotch with the time difference. They certainly look like it when they greet each other at the airport, Oikawa trilling a playful ‘ Iwa-channn’ and Iwaizumi grunting at him to ‘shut up, they’re in public, dumbass!’, exchanging back slaps so loud it makes her wince. 

‘You must be the poor fiancee’, Oikawa gives her an exaggerated leer as he stands before her, hands on hips. ‘What did Iwa-chan drug you with to get you to marry him? Do you know he snores like a monster in his sleep? You know you can back out before the wedding right? Blink once if you’re ok, and twice if you’re not - and I’ll help you escape from him.’

Before she can respond to that frankly impertinent speech, Iwaizumi roars ‘Shut-up, Shittykawa’, tackling him into a headlock and wrestling him off into their car. She stifles a laugh as they spend the rest of the ride to Oikawa’s hotel room bickering back and forth. 

‘How did you manage to pack so much luggage for a two week stay, you vain piece of crap!’

‘I care about my looks and grooming - unlike some of us who skulk around in clothes they’ve worn since high school!’ 

 ‘Vainpot.’

 ‘Beast.’ 

 ‘Piece of shit’ 

 ‘Meanie’

Iwaizumi alternates between grunting and growling at Oikawa’s nonsense but his eyes are shining (so bright that she can see stars) and Oikawa’s retorts are punctuated with smiles that are impossibly wide. She thinks to herself it’ll be good for Iwaizumi to have Oikawa around.

Oikawa starts to call her ‘ Chibi-chan  ’ especially when Hajime is around to be annoyed by it – she admits she’s short, but not  that  short, it’s just that he spends most of his time surrounded by literal  giants  - and develops an irritating habit of ambushing her with quizzes about Hajime's likes and dislikes. 

'Favourite food?' 

'Agedashi tofu.' 

'Favourite movie?' 

 'Godzilla.’ 

After a few rounds of these pop quizzes, she looks at him like he's sprouted a second head. ‘Seriously, Oikawa-san, we're getting married in less than two weeks. Do you seriously think I wouldn't know the most obvious things about my own fiancé?'  

'Don't frown, Chibi-chan, you'll grow wrinkles and look old', he sing songs at her. 'I'm just making sure you're worthy of Iwa-chan's love!' 

'Stop bullying my fiancée, Shittykawa, or I'll beat you up so bad you can't move'. Iwaizumi rubs lazy circles against her back, and she leans against him comfortably. 

'Aww Iwa-chan, once a bone head, always a bone head’, Oikawa says, scrunching his face into a mock-sniff. ‘Say, Chibi-chan, do you know Iwa-chan would beat me up ‘til I let go all the cicadas we caught, but if they died, he would cry?' 

‘Are you calling me a crybaby, Shittykawa’, Iwaizumi growls dangerously, simmering down only when she coos at him, ‘that’s so cute, you must have been such a sweet child’. 

Then, sensing that her presence is probably stopping the boys from catching up fully, she shoos them out of the apartment on the premise that they should get some fresh air and cool off but really so they can get some much needed time together. ‘ And stop fighting’ , she calls after them, making good use of the quiet to busy herself with wedding preparations. 

When Iwaizumi finally returns home late that night, he finds her asleep on the couch, and with a soft smile he curls up around her. ‘Hajime?’ she breathes, nuzzling her nose into his neck, and he has to bite back the urge to cover her face with kisses, tightening his hold on her instead.  

‘I’m back’, he whispers, his breath warm against her neck. ‘Sorry I was out so long’. 

‘It’s fine’, she mumbles sleepily. ‘Did you guys have fun?’

‘Yeah - we went for dinner and then Oikawa dragged me to at least five different bakeries to find the perfect milk bread before he was willing to go for drinks’, he complains. ‘And he made me promise to go for drinks with Issei and Hanamaki tomorrow afternoon before we meet with the wedding coordinator’.

‘Mm’, she hums absently. ‘Oikawa seemed a little on edge earlier. I’m glad he calmed down and had fun with you’. 

Iwaizumi frowns into her hair, thinking back to Oikawa’s inexplicable needling of her earlier. ‘Sweetheart, if Oikawa is irritating you, I'll make him stop’. 

‘It’s fine’, she says, with a little more force than she intended, waving away the concerned look he gives her. ‘He’s your best friend, Hajime. I think he's just feeling a little insecure. You should spend more time with him while you still can’. 

He grins and kisses her warmly. ‘You’re too good to me. What did I do to deserve you?’ 

‘Because the universe willed that I love you’, she answers, as if it were the most obvious thing on earth. 

But Oikawa manages to find a way to wreck her well made plans.   

Iwaizumi finds her in the kitchen, back turned towards him, and the slam of the dishes on the counter makes him wince. ‘I’m sorry, sweetheart’, he tells her, wincing when she shrugs off his hand. 

'You skipped our appointment with our wedding coordinator', she hisses, whirling around to face him. ‘But that’s not the worst of it - do you know how scared I was when you didn’t pick up my calls? I thought you got  hurt  or heaven forbid - got run over by a car and died,  Hajime!’

‘I’m sorry’, he repeats, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. 'I got engrossed in catching up with Hanamaki and Issei, and Oikawa stole my phone so I lost track of time. I kicked his ass for it, you could've heard him whining about it from outer space’. He slyly slides an arm around her waist, resisting her attempts to pull away as he buries his nose in her hair.  ‘I'll make it up to you, I promise'. 

'Make sure you do', she huffs, leaning into his warmth. ‘And what was Oikawa’s reason for stealing your phone?’ 

‘You know Shittykawa, he probably thought he was being cute. I’ll make him apologise,’ Hajime replies, pressing his nose into the crook of her neck. 

She relaxes a fraction, breathing in his familiar scent - fresh linen and pine and  home, but that doesn't ease the knot of something  -  she can't quite put her finger on what it is just yet - weighing down in her chest. 

True to his word, Iwaizumi drags Oikawa by his ear to lunch with them the next day, not letting go until he apologises to her with an appropriately chastened expression on his face. ‘I’m sorry, Chibi-chan, I shan’t do it again’, he tells her contritely, but when Iwaizumi’s back is turned, he shoots her a puckish grin brimming with mischief that makes her toes curl. 

She ignores him, and lets herself be drawn into the flow of their conversation - Oikawa complaining incessantly about Ushijima Wakatoshi and Kageyama Tobio whom she’s met many times in the past few months and he shoots her dirty looks when she archly tells him that she thinks they’re lovely men, Iwaizumi getting on Oikawa’s case again for not eating enough, for not sleeping enough, barely able to restrain himself from violence when Oikawa responds with a trilled ‘  Iwa-chan, you sound like my mother ’.  

The conversation meanders off to their Seijoh teammates she’s not terribly familiar with, so she’s caught off guard when Oikawa abruptly turns to her with shit-eating grin and asks innocently ‘Say, Chibi-chan, what about Iwa-chan caught your eye?’

‘Have you looked at him?’ she says, playfully nudging a blushing Iwaizumi with her elbow. ‘He’s built like a god.’

Oikawa’s smile turns sickly sweet, showing far too much teeth. ‘In that case, I’m surprised you didn’t go for one of the volleyball players instead. Or was Iwa-chan your last attempt? You’re twenty-five this year, after all.’ 

A glance in Iwaizumi’s direction shows her exactly what she expects - first, his mouth drops open in a wide-eyed, open mouthed gape, then fury burns white hot across his face, and she has to grab his hand before he causes a scene by throwing himself bodily across the table to strangle the smirk off Oikawa’s face. ‘I can fight my own battles’, she mouths at him, willing him to stay in his seat, her hand still pressed firmly against his.  

‘Well, you did ask me what first attracted me to Hajime, and I didn’t lie - I was really drawn by his looks’. 

 She inhales and lets herself be drawn back to the warmth of the memory of tumbling head first into Iwaizumi’s arms, and exhales to look squarely at Oikawa. ‘But then I fell for his kindness, his steadfastness, his patience - and when he told me he loved me, I felt as if the universe had handed me the sun, the moon and the stars’.    

Her answer must have touched Oikawa’s shrivelled little heart, she thinks to herself, because something  in his eyes shutters and a look of respect streaks across his face. ‘Well said, Chibi-chan, well said’, he says begrudgingly. ‘Iwa-chan is lucky to have you’. 

The rest of lunch passes without incident, and when she and Iwaizumi are finally back home, he corners her as she’s about to go to bed and asks quietly - ‘Sweetheart, did you really mean all of that?’  

‘Of course I do. I love you, Hajime. Do you need me to count the ways?’ 

‘Maybe’, he responds playfully, circling his arms around her as she pulls him to bed. She lies in his embrace, ear pressed to his chest and falls asleep to the steady thrum of his heartbeat, the ebb and flow of his breath, the rise and fall of his chest.

When Iwaizumi calls out that he’ll be gone to the bar down the street for an hour or two to vet Oikawa’s best man speech, she certainly did not expect him to burst back into their flat with Oikawa held bridal style in his arms. It would have been a comical sight - Oikawa’s bulky frame dwarfing even Iwaizumi, legs looking ludicrously long dangling over Iwaizumi’s arms - but for the frantic expression of Iwaizumi’s face and the desperate way Oikawa clings to Iwaizumi’s neck. 

‘Idiot bumped his knee while doing shots’, Iwaizumi explains to her distractedly, as he settles Oikawa onto their couch. ‘I don’t think it’s serious, but I’ll take him to the doctor in the morning to check him out just in case. Brought him to our place since it’s closer than his hotel room, and I can keep an eye on him overnight’. 

She hands him an ice pack. ‘Why don’t you two take our bed, and I’ll take the couch? He’ll be more comfortable that way, and you can watch over him at night.’

‘Are you sure?’ Iwaizumi frowns, and she nods, pushing him towards his friend while she turns to fetch a set of spare pyjamas for their unexpected guest. Iwaizumi lifts Oikawa to their bed and together, they strip him of his clothes and, mindful of his knee, gingerly slide him into clean clothes. 

‘Iwa-chan’, she hears the lanky setter whine as she makes to leave the room to bring an extra ice pack. Turning her head, she catches a glimpse of Hajime bending over Oikawa’s form. She’s not sure if it’s a trick of the light, but she  swears she saw Iwaizumi brush his fingers against Oikawa’s forehead with a quiet tenderness he’s only ever shown to her, tucking his hair behind his ears. For some reason, it makes her heart clench. 

She’s gathering the discarded clothes up from the floor whilst Iwaizumi’s in the shower, when Oikawa shoots his hand out to grab her wrist. ‘I’m sorry’, he tells her, a plaintive note in his voice.  ‘I tore it up – I should never have tried to tell him.’

‘What?’ She gives him a bewildered stare. ‘What are you talking about?’ 

‘Iwa-chan’, he slurs, and she can smell the alcohol on his breath as she moves closer to him to catch his words. ‘He got mad with me, madder than I’ve ever seen him before.’

‘You mean Hajime? Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he doesn’t stay mad with you, whatever it is you’ve done.’

He shakes his head. ‘I’m sorry’, he manages to say, and starts to cry. She flounders, unsure whether to comfort him herself or call for Hajime to deal with him (because she’s not stupid, it’s painfully obvious he resents her), but the look in his eyes is so heartbreakingly vulnerable that she can't bring herself to leave him alone even for a minute, so she sits next to him on the bed, rubbing a soothing hand against his back while he soaks her sleeve with hot tears. ‘You’re drunk and injured, Oikawa-san. You should rest’, she murmurs, easing him back against his pillow when his sobs cease and he seems to calm down. 

As she bends down again to pick up his clothes, he gives a cry of alarm and tries to grab her wrist again, almost flipping himself off the bed. Hearing the commotion, Iwaizumi rushes into the room, hair still wet from his shower, barking loudly ‘you idiot’, forcing Oikawa to lie back down onto the bed. She backs out of the room, leaving Hajime to comfort his sobbing friend. 

 She doesn’t think too much about Oikawa’s strange words, mentally writing it off as another one of his odd little quirks. But as she’s folding up his pants, a stack of torn papers falls out of its pocket, and she thinks she recognises the words ‘Iwa-chan’ scribbled all over it. Though she knows it’s wrong to invade his privacy – especially when he’s in no position to defend it, she can’t help but be curious, reasoning to herself that it must be his best man’s speech, she should at least vet through it once before the wedding. 

It isn’t hard to piece the scraps of paper together, the tears uneven, as if made in a fit of panic or rage. It is, as she thought, Oikawa’s best man speech, and it starts out as expected, with well wishes to Iwaizumi and her. But as she continues reading, running her finger over each word, etched so harshly into each page that the ink bleeds, it becomes evident that that isn’t the only thing Oikawa meant to say. 

‘I know it’s too late, but I love you, Iwa-chan’, she reads with growing horror on the very last page, a suspicious water stain next to these words. Mind whirling, unable to process what she’s just read, she sits at the kitchen table reading and re-reading his words until her vision starts to blur. 

 ‘There are times I wonder if I chose wrong, if I should have held fast to you, the other half of my soul rather than going off to fight in hopeless wars, because I should have known you won’t always be waiting for me to come home. But I will always love you - like the moon loves the sun, even if I can only watch you from afar, so full of light’. 

She should be  furious  – she should head straight to Oikawa and scream and shout and stamp her foot at him, because how dare he say these things  now  when he’s had  forever  to say them to Iwaizumi before she even came into the picture – how dare  he wait until she and Iwaizumi are less than ten days away from being wed. But she doesn’t, because deep inside her, she understands. 

How can she begrudge his love when they love the same man?  

‘Sweetheart’, she faintly hears Iwaizumi say, squinting in the light as he emerges from the dark bedroom. ‘Is everything alright?’ he asks, his voice heavy with concern when he catches sight of her tear stained face.

She wants to tell him that everything’s just fine – but his gaze shifts to the torn papers in her trembling hands and she knows immediately everything is not fine at all when he looks back at her with guilt and anguish branded on his face. 

‘Did you know?’ she asks, hating the way her voice starts to break. 

‘He told me just now’, he tells her heavily, dropping into the seat across her, his hands cradling his head. 

‘Do you love him?’ she demands, ignoring the sob that’s threatening to tear itself out of her chest. 

He looks up at her. There are tears in his eyes. 

‘Yes’, he admits. ‘I don’t want to, but I do’. 

His words knock the oxygen from her lungs, leaving her with a crater in her chest. He loves  Oikawa Tooru, this beautiful, brilliant, broken boy, incandescent with the light of a thousand stars. 

Where does that leave her? 

(Stranded in the dust, abandoned in the dark)  

She suddenly feels as if she’s trapped in her own skin, a vise that’s far, far too tight, burning with the need to turn herself inside out. ‘I need to go’, she manages to spit out, stumbling over her feet. He stands in alarm, reaching towards her but she slaps his hand away. ‘Don’t touch me’, she hisses, grabbing her wallet and phone through a haze of tears. 

‘Where are you going to go?’ he demands, barring the door with his large frame. ‘It’s late, it’s not safe.’

‘Anywhere that’s not here’, she snarls, trying to shoulder her way through. ‘Let me go, Hajime – I can’t stay here, please, let me go!’ She slams her fists against his chest, collapsing to the floor at his feet when she realises it’s impossible to break through the immovable force that is Iwaizumi Hajime. 

‘Let me go somewhere that isn’t here’, she begs him, hiccupping through her tears. ‘You’re hurting me more by making me stay here with him’. 

He sinks to his knees to cup her face in his hands. ‘I’m sorry’, he sobs. ‘I couldn’t bear it if I lose you too’. 

She doesn’t have the heart to tell him he already has ( because she can’t stay, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts), and when her stillness convinces him it’s safe to turn his back to her for a second, she slips through the door and disappears into the night. She hears him shout her name, hears the anguish in his voice, but she doesn’t stop running until she’s safely ensconced in a nearby hotel room.  

Her phone keeps buzzing through the night. ‘Iwaizumi Hajime ’, it reads,  ‘Iwaizumi Hajime’, flashes on her screen, again and again. She tries her best to ignore it, turning her phone on to silent mode, leaving it face down on the dresser but she can’t - her ears still echoing with the heart wrenching panic in his voice. So she rolls over to her phone and sends him a text – ‘ I’m fine, go to bed, you have a doctor’s appointment with Oikawa to worry about tomorrow morning’  – quickly switching it off before he can flood her inbox with desperate calls and texts. 

She tries her best to fall asleep, but she ends up lying awake, counting the cracks in the ceiling. The air in the room is far, far too still, and she feels like she’s suffocating, buried alive from the sand and dirt and earth pouring into the cavity in her chest. Against her better judgment, she uncorks the cheap spirits in the hotel minibar and pours herself shots, one after another, until she drops off to sleep with a single thought swirling around her head. 

The universe isn’t fair - because first it gave her Hajime, then it took him away. 

It is noon when she wakes, sunlight streaming mercilessly into the room. She sits up with a groan, rubbing a hand across her face. For a second, she wonders where she is, the monochrome sheets so different from the cheerful patterns she uses in their room, before reality  slams into her like a comet to her chest. 

Right. That happened .  

She can scream and cry and try to scratch the face of fate but it won’t change matters. Hiding away from the world isn’t going to make the cruel joke that is her love life go away, so she grits her teeth and steels herself, washing her face and paying the bill before heading home (though if she’s honest with herself, she’s not sure if it’ll be  home for much longer). 

She prays to god or whatever deity there is out there (not the universe, it has a funny way of throwing  shit her way) that Iwaizumi wouldn’t be home, but whatever it is, it’s definitely not listening because Iwaizumi opens the front door while she’s still struggling with her keys. It takes just one look at him for the pain in her chest to make its presence felt again.  

‘How’s Oikawa’s knee?’ she casually inquires, edging around him to slip into the flat. Oikawa doesn’t seem to be around, so she lets herself relax just an inch. 

‘It’s fine’, he responds, his eyes never leaving her face. ‘Just needs some rest’. 

‘That’s good’, she says absently, heading straight for the kitchen, ignoring him as he follows her steps. ‘Have you eaten?’ she asks, pulling leftover rice and dashi stock out of the fridge. He nods dumbly as she heats them both up to assemble two bowls of Ochazuke . Her heart may be broken, but her stomach certainly isn’t, and she’s not about to let herself wither away. He looks at her dumbly as she slides his bowl at him, and neither of them says a word until she leans back in her chair, satisfied with her meal. 

‘Are we going to talk?’ he asks her confusedly.  

‘About last night? What is there left to talk about?’ she replies, keeping her composure firm. ‘The wedding’s off obviously, so we need to inform all our vendors and guests as soon as possible. I think I should be the one to move out of the flat – ‘

He cuts her off frantically – ‘What? Why would we call off our wedding? I still love you, and you still love me, don’t you?’

She gapes at him incredulously. ‘Hajime, you told me last night that you love Oikawa. How is our marriage going to work if you love someone else?’ 

‘But I love you’, he says, his voice cracking. ‘Isn’t that enough?’ 

No it isn’t, and she’s shaking her head because it isn’t enough, it’s never going to be enough, because he may love her but he’s in love with him – has been since they were little boys with stars in their eyes. And his shoulders shake and it’s his turn to cry because  he loves her, he really does, he knows greed is a sin but he wants both him and her, and he wishes that it could be enough. 

 ‘I’ve seen the way you look at him, and I’ve seen the way he looks at you’, she tells him, eyes dry, but there’s a tremble in her voice that she can’t hide - because she’s so stupid, she should have figured this out long before she dug out her heart and handed it to him - but then again maybe she didn’t because she was blinded by staring too long at the sun. 

‘You will grow to resent me if I keep him from you and besides, how could  I possibly compare?’  

Because Oikawa Tooru, blessed with innate brilliance and cursed with a penchant for self-immolation, burns brighter than a thousand stars. 

‘I’m sorry’, he tells her, rounding the table to drop to his knees before her, the look in his eyes so heartbreakingly sad that she has to choke back a sob. ‘You meant the world to me’, he whispers brokenly as he buries his face in her lap. 

‘I know’, she answers him – and gods, her heart is screaming and it hurts - but she loves him so much she knows it’s only right to let him go. ‘But the world will move on, and you need to chase the stars while you still have them in your sight’. 

At this, he lets out a quiet cry, and this time she gives in and joins him, her tears soaking his hair. He wraps his arms around her as she presses kisses into his skin and they stay that way for a while, their limbs entwined, because it finally dawns on both of them that this is it  - it truly is the end of them.

The sun may set and the moon may rise, but the stars - they burn bright in the sky. 

Her love for him should die (from earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust) – but it doesn’t.  

She packs her life into cardboard boxes and shifts into her sister’s flat. Iwaizumi doesn’t allow her to pay for the cancellation of their wedding, takes all responsibility for informing their guests that the wedding’s off - he says it’s his fault after all, and she doesn’t resist, knowing it’s his way of trying to make amends.   

His face crumples and he tries to refuse her when she returns his ring, but she insists - because it doesn’t feel right, she can’t seem to smile when the silver band catches the sun's light. He doesn’t tell her he keeps it in a box beside his bed, and opens it from time to time.

Oikawa manages to weasel her sister’s address out of Iwaizumi and appears on her doorstep the day before he’s due to return to Argentina with a bushel of white lilies in his arms. 

‘Wait!’ he cries, catching the door with his foot as she tries to slam it into his face, cursing the reflexes of a professional athlete. ‘I won’t take too much of your time’, he promises, and she folds her arms, glaring at him expectantly. 

‘I’m sorry. I’ve treated you and Hajime terribly, haven’t I’, he asks her shamefacedly. 

‘You have’, she tells him coldly, because she desperately wants to blame him for everything bad that's come her way but when he hangs his head, she can’t help but soften her tone. ‘But I understand, Oikawa. How could I blame you when I love the same man?’ 

‘I don’t deserve your kindness’, he responds quietly, after a pause. 

‘But you have it’, she tells him. ‘So live and be happy, for his and my sake’. 

When he leaves, she closes the door and sinks to the floor, burying her nose in his offering of lilies. Its scent is cloying sweet, but she can only taste the bitterness of ash in her mouth.  

A year later, and she’s back covering the Japanese men’s volleyball season when she runs into one Iwaizumi Hajime again. 

He is the first to speak, asking her a genial ‘how are you’, to which she replies ‘fine’, though she really means - ‘I may be wounded, but I am still standing on my feet’. But Iwaizumi understands -  he always does , and they stay silent for a while. 

She picks up the courage to ask after Oikawa, and she knows he’s trying his best not to light up as he tells her that though he’s back in Argentina, they’re pursuing a long distance relationship. In turn, she tells him about her new boyfriend, ruefully mentioning that though she tried to stay clear of volleyball boys, Akaashi Keiji not only used to play volleyball in high school, but is the best friend (and former setter) of Bokuto Koutaro, national team player and self-proclaimed ace. He laughs at that - but she does not mention it is a relationship born out of the heartbreak reflected in both of their eyes.

‘Are you alright?’ he asks her before they part. It’s ironic because these are the first words he’s ever said to her, but she swallows the memory and this time she responds truthfully.

‘It’s a work in progress and I’m getting there, one day at a time’.  

They exchange bittersweet smiles.

It’s enough for now.

#haikyuu #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu angst #oikawa tooru #iwaizumi angst #iwaizumi fanfic #iwaizumi hajime #haikyuu fic rec #haikyu x reader #oikawa x iwaizumi #iwaizumi x reader #oikawa angst #iwaizumi x y/n #iwaizumi x you #iwaizumi scenarios

[obscureoperations]

Think of a nice picnic, Martin laying on your lap while you caress his hair,talking about what you like about eachother,all cute stuff🌺

So cute! Sorry this shit is hella late. I have some ahh..stuff goin' on.

The lake had to be one of Martin’s favorite places to be, it was starting to become one of yours as well. Curled up together on the blanket with sandwiches, chips and fruit--you couldn’t beat it. It was a place where the two of you could be truly alone.

The sound of crickets and cicadas begin to fade into the distance as you focus on the boy in your arms. He looked so peaceful, a small content smile playing at the corners of his lips as you continue to weave your fingers through his hair. The strands felt like silk between your fingers, you resist the urge to lean in and kiss his brow. The late afternoon sun painted him with a nearly ethereal glow, at times you couldn’t believe that he was yours.

When he phoned you that morning, the sound of his voice nearly broke you, you could tell that he was on the verge of tears. He got that way when he was really angry-- the old man tended to get that reaction out of most people. Apparently Cuda went off on a tangent at the breakfast table, berating him in front of Christina and Arthur alike. What started out as a simple compliment from Christina on his woodwork turned into a whole tirade about his apparent laziness.

A pure hate filled rant that Christina tried her best to deter, all the while Arthur shot over a few " Hey man I'm sorry" glances. He didn’t hold back, he even referenced you by name when he “prayed” that soon enough you’d wise up and leave him. How he would never be capable of raising a family or even finding love. Martin was livid, he ended up leaving the table in disgust, sending his plate shattering across the floor..

“You don’t ever think about leaving me y/n? Do you?”

You could distinctly hear the hoarseness in his voice. It was only eleven thirty on a Friday morning, but it was clear that he’d been crying. He was supposed to be enjoying his day off, but instead he was cooped up alone in his room. You had no idea what else the old man tried to beat into his head about your relationship, and at this point you didn’t care. You hung up the phone before leaving the stockroom.. The shop would manage while you were away.

~

So beautiful. Your attention was equally drawn between Martin and the lake. blackbirds and crickets continue to hum in the distance. Sunlight reflects off the crystal waters painting a perfect picture of your afternoon. You just wanted to keep him there with you all the time.

“Y/n… are you alright?”

The sound of your name was enough to startle you out of your reprieve, you quickly avert your attention back to Martin.

He was already gazing up at you with wide brown eyes, fingers grasping at the hem of your shirt. Just how long had he been looking at you? For that matter, how long had he been speaking?

You could feel the heat rise to your face as you cough gently.

“I- Martin I’m sorry… what?”

#martin 1977 #martin 1978 #martin mathias #martin/you #martin/reader #really short

[cynthiaandsamus]

Higurashi Sotsu: Kamishuri-hen

The Alternate Ending Fanfic for Higurashi Sotsu I’ve been working on is finally complete! Thanks to everyone that showed interest in it and I hope you can read and enjoy! Please let me know what you think if you give it a read!

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Sotsu: Kamishuri-hen

When The Cicadas Cry: Graduation: God-Repairing Chapter

The red gleam in Satoko’s eyes bore right through Rika as she leveled the gun at her in front of the rest of their friends while the light-hearted party quickly became a tragedy. She hesitated just a moment, as if daring to ask Rika ‘how did you know?’ repeating the question Rika had asked her about the disguised box with the bear inside, now discarded on the floor in the commotion. The truth was Rika had help, remembering Rena’s words to her from yesterday.

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“A birthday party for Satoko-chan? That’s a great idea Rika-chan, it is, it is!” Rena swooned and held her cheeks. “Maybe I should get her a party dress, she’d look so cyuuuute~ She usually wears pink or blue, maybe something different for a party? Oooh, what about some red? Satoko-chan would look super cyute in something… r-red.” Rika was ready to let Rena rant as she usually did, however she was her freeze, eyes wide with fear as if a distant memory had suddenly come back to her.

“R-Rena…?” Rika reached out to her. “Are you alright, mii?” She tried to throw in a little cute to snap Rena out of it. The look of fear plastered across Rena’s face stayed for a moment, but faded as she visibly put some effort into smiling. It was something Rena did quite a bit when things weren’t right and Rika had gotten used to it over the past century.

“M-Mhm!” Rena added sweetly, smiling like an angel but still visibly putting effort into it.

“Rena…” Rika pushed the issue tenderly, knowing from her experience she couldn’t force Rena to talk about it if she didn’t want to, but also to be persistent with her friends when it came to communication.

“It’s just a bad dream is all.” Rena rubbed the back of her head, having no idea what her memories from the prior loops creeping into her mind meant. “I just remembered a bad dream I had where Oiishi-san was a very bad man… and then… Satoko…” Rena trailed off, not wanting to spoil the birthday celebration with such morbid, and in her mind entirely fictional, thoughts.

“Satoko…?” Rika’s eyes widened, the spots where Ooishi beat her to death previously still ached with some phantom pain, so she knew Rena was absolutely telling the truth. “Satoko… did something bad, nipah?”

“I-It’s just a dream!!” Rena blushed, waving her hands in front of her. “I’ve been hanging around Keiichi-kun too much, he has weird dreams like that too. Our Satoko would never do something like that, right? Right?” She smiled sweetly.

Rika forced a smile as her face too wanted to freeze in horror. Things were making too much sense. She’d long suspected someone was controlling the nature of her loops to their desired end. Things had only corrected themselves now that she’d embraced her discarded love for Hinamizawa, something she now remember Satoko talking to her about several times over the course of several loops. Maybe she’d known before now, but she hadn’t wanted to believe it.

“Yeah, our Satoko is a good girl, Nipah~”

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Satoko pulled the trigger, shooting Rika directly through the forehead and pulling the gun on herself, both girls hitting the ground before the rest of the club around them could even comprehend what was going on. Their screams of surprise and anguish quickly faded as the life drained out of both girls before they hit the ground.

The next thing the blonde child knew she was back in her house with Rika, at the start of the loop an instant before Rika’s consciousness followed her. The brief moment of shock and surprise at being drawn into the new loop was all the clue Satoko needed, gripping Rika’s arm and grabbing a kitchen knife.

Rika flailed and threw herself away from Satoko, landing on the ground before she could kill her again. “This is going to be much harder now that you know…” Satoko growled, brandishing the large knife. “Why do you have to be so difficult? Why can’t you love Hinamizawa for the beautiful place it is!? Why can’t you stay here with me!?”

The sweet innocent look melted from Rika’s eyes, showing the side of herself that only a few ever witnessed as she got back to her knees and quickly backed up, facing Satoko head-on. “I thought I hated Hinamizawa, after spending one hundred years of tragedy here I really did think I hated it. But even then I never wanted to leave forever… I want to experience more out of life, what kind of sin is that!?” Some part of Rika really had come to appreciate Hinamizawa again after all of this, but she wasn’t budging on her dreams either.

Satoko lunged at her, slashing away with the knife angrily and blindly. “Is Hinamizawa not good enough for you!? Am I!? This “hick town” is the only place I will ever belong, if you hate this town, you hate me! And no matter how hard I try I cannot change for you Rika! So I have to change you instead, no matter what it takes!!”

Rika weaved away from the slashes, staying out of Satoko’s admittedly short reach. “You aren’t this town! I don’t hate you! More than anything in the world I wanted to share my dream with you!  Nothing that happened to me here was your fault until now, but I can’t stand to stay here the rest of my life!”

“And I can’t stand to leave, but I can’t stand to be without you!” Satoko leapt forward again, moving to jump at Rika and stab her with tears in her eyes, the other girl grabbing both her wrists to keep her at arm’s length, earning a few cuts to her arms but staying safe for now. Rika winced as she tried to hold Satoko back, the blonde was a small bit stronger than her and slowly but surely the knife got closer and closer to her.

“You’re the most important person to me! How can you see everything I went through, to truly understand my suffering and want more of that for me!? How can you drag me back into my worst nightmare and claim it’s love!?” Rika shrieked, tightening her grip in vain as she tried to push Satoko away.

“It doesn’t matter! The world where you and I are happy together is the only one I’ll accept! Everything else is just like a bad dream!” She growled, forcing the knife down more.

“You know that’s not true! Those other worlds aren’t fake, they’re real! They leave a mark on your heart, people who live in loops are never unphased by the worlds they live in! Every single one of the tragedies I’ve lived through lives on in my heart, along with all the joy I shared with all of you in those hundred years! I never forgot a single one of them and I know the worlds you’ve lived through changed you too!”

Satoko’s eyes widened briefly, faltering for a second as Rika’s words festered in her mind, knowing what she was becoming the more she played with people as toys and got addicted to it. Rika took the opportunity, shoving Satoko back and kicking her in the stomach to knock her away and knock the knife out of her hand.

SCCHK!!

The shock of the clash shot through Satoko and she tried to get up, but found she couldn’t. She looked over at Rika, a look of despair and regret washing over her face. Glancing back she saw she fell back on the umbrella rack by the door, and looking down she saw the sharp point of one of the bigger umbrellas sticking out from her chest, blood spreading across her pink top.

“W-Wait, no…” Satoko tried pulling herself off, but felt the strength leaving her arms already, eyes widening in terror. “I can’t die first… no, no… after all this… not like this…” She scrambled around for anything that could make Rika die faster than she currently was but her vision was already fading. “What was this all for…? For it to end like this…” Her arms hung limply as she crashed down to the floor in a heap.

“R-Rika…”

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“Oh my, how interesting…” Satoko woke to Eua’s voice and the twinkling of thousands of prisms spinning around them in the Sea of Fragments. “I did tell you to be more careful, Vier.” She chided, sprawled across her lounge chair with an amused smile.

“Rika!!” Satoko shot up off the floor of the stone platform they were floating on, eyes wide with terror. Eua had told her if she failed to kill Rika before she died, she would no longer be able to loop into a world with Rika in it. “What happened!? Is Rika gone!?” She stared shocked at the goddess before her.

“Not exactly.” Eua smirked, lazily floating in the air now. “The Cat was the focal point for your looping, therefore because you died first this time, your “Sea of Fragments” and hers are now eternally divorced. Either world in which you exist cannot contain her, and vice versa. You are like oil and vinegar. Your attempts to remain together have resulted in you two being fated to never meet again, never even existing in the same fragment, how deliciously amusing.” She purred.

“W-What…” The realization washed over Satoko like a wave, dread covering her face, arm twitching with fury and regret and disappointment. The twitching hand quickly grasped her neck, as if half of her was trying to choke the life out of herself. “LOOK WHAT YOU DID!!!” One of her eyes had a thick stream of tears flowing down it while the other glowed a devilish red with a look of annoyance filling it.

“What I did!?” The red side growled, forcing the hand away from her neck. “It was your selfishness and greed that called me out! You were the one that wished to do things over! I am merely your wish, your curse given form! I am the strength you asked for!”

“Oh my, I thought we’d buried that side of Satoko for good.” Eua’s eyes shone with dull surprise. “It looks like that death was a shock to both of you and split you up again…” She waved her staff and yawned. “Let’s do something about that before this gets too confusing…” Out from the middle of Satoko split two girls, one with the girl’s normal rose-colored eyes and one with the bright red of a Looper: Satoko and The Witch.

“We lost Rika and it’s all your fault!” Satoko shouted at the Witch. “You made me hurt my uncle, and do all those awful things! And now we don’t even have Rika to show for it!”

“Made you!? Ohoho! Even now you’re more concerned about Rika than any regret for what you’ve done! You enjoyed the game as much as I did, don’t be upset just because it’s over.” The Witch cackled. “You started this, don’t throw a tantrum just because you lost. Your lust for pity and addiction to manipulation is the only reason I’m here at all!”

“No, you’re…” The words stung deep into Satoko, deep down she knew she couldn’t blame all of this on the Witch despite how much she wanted a scapegoat, her grief turned in on itself and became self-loathing and she backed away towards the edge of the platform. “You’re right… this is all my fault. I wanted so desperately to be with Rika that if the world told me I couldn’t, I would gladly destroy that world and find a world that would give me a more palatable answer…”

“You are a sinner, Satoko Hojo.” A grin split the Witch’s face in half. “Just like me.”

A defeated look crossed Satoko’s face as she hung her head, heels at the edge of the platform, there was nowhere else to go.  

So she leapt.

Falling through the thousands of shards, into the abyss, falling and at the same time not falling, but moving away from the area with Eua and the Witch all the same

 “Should we… do something about that?” The Witch looked back at Eua with a puzzled look.

“The Sea of Fragments is but a temporary stop, humans aren’t meant to exist here indefinitely, that is only for Witches like us. If she doesn’t loop again she will eventually cease to exist entirely. Let’s just see what happens. Despair is its own form of entertainment~”

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Rika awoke in her own sea of fragments some time later. Memories of what happened after she killed Satoko were fuzzy but she had a feeling she hadn’t lasted much longer than that for one reason or another.  She glanced around and a feeling of deep emptiness washed over her. It had been a few loops since Hanyuu’s memory disappeared in front of her but with the drive of trying to solve the mystery kept her going for a bit. Now that she had the answer she was struck by just how quiet and empty this world was without her guardian deity and now that she had the answer.

“Every time I try to find the truth in a sea of keys, it just opens the door to something even more tragic…” She lay onto her back and closed her eyes. She couldn’t place it but for some reason she felt particularly empty, not at peace per se, but not in anguish about the revelation like she’d expected to be.

Why go on at this point? Her closest friends had either disappeared or betrayed her. If she looped again she knew she’d only be killed by Satoko again, or worse, find a world where she wasn’t there. She dug into her pocket, pulling out the shard of the Onigari-no-Ryuuou she’d retrieved earlier, noticing that it stayed with her when she looped as if it existed outside normal time.  She briefly contemplated finally using it on herself, not overcome by despair as she had been the first time she thought of it, but filled with emptiness and apathy that prodded her with the possibility.

“So are you going to use it?” A voiced called to her from across the distance. It was somehow familiar despite her knowing she’d never heard it before. She sat up and saw a woman about her height, with her hair color, yet with a bored expression spun across her face.

“Who are you…?” Rika gripped the shard of the sword tighter, toying with the idea of defending herself if it came to that but quickly shelving the idea.

“Eua calls me The Cat, that’s as good as any name I suppose.” The woman murmured. “You didn’t answer my question. Are you going to do it? As long as someone’s entertained, this story won’t end. You’ll keep getting dragged into loops whether you like it or not. Stories shouldn’t be without endings. An end, even a bad end, might be worth it.”

“Are you… me?” Rika asked on a hunch, glancing down to the shard in her hand.

“Yes and no.” The Cat responded. “I am the frustration and madness and grief of a hundred years of torment. In a moment of agony you wished to be rid of that, to cast off the fatigue of those who live in loops. It’s not exactly that easy, but I am a response to that wish at least.”

“It would be a waste.” Rika finally responded, putting the shard back in her pocket. “I’ve gone through too much wanting to live to die now. To admit at all that suffering was for nothing, it would be far too cruel.”

“We are no strangers to cruelty. The curses of witches often create worlds where there are no good ends.” A sadistic smirk briefly crossed the Cat’s lips. “It’s ironic that Satoko’s desire not to lose you has now put you two out of reach forever. It would’ve been more deliciously ironic if it caused the cessation of your existence entirely, but I won’t be greedy for now.” The cat gave a cruel chuckle.

“She what!?” Rika winced, she had a feeling about what Satoko had said, she was no expert on how the fragments worked but she could feel as if Satoko had been somehow lost to her.

“Do you care? Do you care that the girl that dragged you back into hell for her own selfish means is now gone? I suppose I could go for a girl like that, but I think we have different tastes.” The Cat’s stoic face showed a slightly bemused smirk.

“I do… I’ve been hurt by all my friends at one time or another, they’ve all murdered and hurt me and I knew it wasn’t their fault. Satoko may not have been under Hinamizawa Syndrome, but she was hurting all the same. I won’t say I didn’t try to help her, but at the same time I failed to adequately see how deeply troubled she was. I was so blind that I didn’t even see that she was the one that was upset at me enough to pull me back into loops. I can’t forgive what she did so easily, but I know… in the end, she just wanted the same thing I did, for us to be together…”

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“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” The words croaked out of Satoko’s throat, she wasn’t sure how many times she’d said it but she’d long passed the one thousand apologies demanded of an offense to God. Eventually she just stopped talking altogether.

Satoko wasn’t sure how long she drifted, it could have been hours, years, decades, she had no idea how time worked in the sea of fragments and her mind was too blank and numb to try and make sense of it all. She kept replaying the events in her head, trying to see where she’d gone wrong. It was obvious the more she looked at it, even if her crimes didn’t last through loops, living in a world where death didn’t matter and each new life was just one of a million chances to make her ideal world deeply affected her, warped the way she saw things.

She bumped into a fragment from behind, looping into it. She was walking home with Keiichi and Rena, the house she and Rika had lived in was hers alone and the distance between her and her friends was more noticeable without Rika there to bridge the gap. This wasn’t the first loop she’d bumped into mindlessly, some the villagers had been more hostile to her without Rika there to help her. Some of them her uncle was still there, sometimes nice, sometimes cruel, some loops were relatively pleasant, though the emptiness of Rika’s absence persisted.

Just like the others she had no interest in this world. The only reason she didn’t entirely avoid fragments on her mindless drifting was in the vain hope that she’d bump into a fragment with Rika in it. Still she knew this wasn’t one of those, stopping in the middle of the street. Ren and Keiichi turned to see what was wrong, though they didn’t ask. She dug into her pencil bag, finding the sharpest pencil she could and jammed it hard into her eye. She screamed in torment but she’d gotten used to this by now and knew where to go to make sure she died quickly.

Soon enough she was back in the sea, drifting listlessly, eyes hollow and lightless. “When I was little, I broke Oyashiro-sama’s statue and Rika was blamed for it… was I cursed since that day? Or even before that… have I been cursed since the day I was born? Born into the family of outcasts that supported the dam project, broken and abused, my Nii-Nii stolen from me… it seems God’s been angry at me from the start… not this time though, this time the Curse is all on me…”

“Satoko… curses don’t break easily, but that’s not all there is to the world either…” A voice called to Satoko from the darkness. A brief flicker of light shone in the blonde’s hopeless eyes, willing herself to at least look over and acknowledge the voice.

“Your sins can’t disappear.” Hanyuu floated in front of her. “I’ve learned that myself, just like when you erase a blackboard, it’s never as clean as before you wrote on it. The Witch is real and reflects your sins, that will never change. There will always be a part of you that can’t forgive the world and curses it. My hatred of the world of men became a blight on the land that spread farther than I ever intended…” Hanyuu sighed, thinking of Hinamizawa Syndrome and Eua. “But that’s not all of you. Forgiveness is a miracle, many people prayed to Oyashiro-sama to forgive them, but a Miracle isn’t something gifted to you by divine providence. A Miracle is something you make with your own two hands, little by little. If it takes a hundred years, even if that sin never disappears, the miracle of forgiveness can be yours.”

“I don’t deserve forgiveness, I don’t know if I even want it at this point…” Satoko sat upright, glancing away from Hanyuu. She remembered her from the fragments she’d viewed through Rika and though they hadn’t spoken much she couldn’t bear to look her in the eyes now.

“Then what do you want, Satoko?” Hanyuu nodded patiently. “I may be a failure but I am still a deity, let me hear your prayers.”

The question brought Satoko to tears, after all she’d done to selfishly pursue her own goals, after all her agony and self-loathing, to be asked what she wanted, to still consider her desires as valid, to think she had a future to aspire to.

“I… I WANT TO SEE RIKA!!!” She shouted into the void, tears streaming down her face. “I want to apologize, even if I don’t deserve forgiveness, I want to see her one more time and cherish the brief moment I have with her to make up for all the worlds of time with her I threw away!!”

“I can’t grant your wish Satoko… but you can.” Hanyuu smiled sweetly, tears creeping into the corners of her eyes as well. “There’s nothing that can’t be done. Rika rolled the dice of fate thousands of times and made a miracle, and  you worked towards your goals, misguided as they were, to meet them with certainty. Even if it’s just one time, you can overcome your own consequences and find the one world where you can get your wish. Seek it out with hopes and dreams instead of curses and despair and you will certainly find it.”

“RIKA!!!’ Satoko charged forward, finding no footing in the floating void but touching shard after shard, flashing through dozens, possible hundreds of worlds. Each world erupted into shards of light as she passed through them, like digging through a pool of glass, ignoring the pain each defeat found her, crawling through years and years in what seemed like instants and eternities all at once. The light from each broke shard formed a rift, lighting a crack in the void that she was finally able to step through.

And came out on the other side.

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“RIKA!!!!!” Rika turned her head, spying the chasm of light above her as Satoko reached out through it. The priestess took her hand with a gasp, pulling her through, eyes wide with shock.

“Satoko!?”

“Oh my, how interesting…” The Cat smirked, disappearing into the void while her eyes stayed glued to the two.

“Rika… I’m sorry… I don’t want to feel that far apart from you ever again… so even if it’s just right now, even if this is the last time I see you… please just know I’m sorry. You don’t have to forgive me, I don’t want you to, just please hear my apology…”

Rika was stunned, seeing the look of anguish on Satoko’s face, completely changed from the smug angry expression she’d had in the kitchen.

“I… forgive you.”

“No! Rika you dummy…” Satoko sobbed. “I don’t deserve forgivness…”

“Whether you deserve it or not, you’re getting it.” Rika patted Satoko’s head. “Poor, poor Satoko. Pain fly away, Mii~” Her voice was briefly cute and fluffy as it had been in class before returning to a more stern tone.

“Please don’t be sad, even if the world doesn’t forgive you, I will forgive you. Please don’t be sad, even if you don’t forgive the world, I will forgive you. So please tell me, what shall I do so that you’ll forgive me?” The Cat repeated the lines from the poem as she watched the scene unfold.

“No matter the error, nothing is unforgivable. There’s no such thing as a mistake that can’t be fixed. If it is something that can’t be fixed, that all the more reason to forgive you because nothing will be changed by you apologizing now.” Rika gave a tender smile as she embraced Satoko gently.

“Come on, let’s go back. Whether or not we’ll be together in the future, we’re together now. The rest we can figure out later.” Rika pulled back gently, tears streaming from her eyes as she gave a laugh of relief.

“That’s hardly any fun.” Eua grumbled from above as she and the Witch floated down to join the Cat. “I demanded to be entertained for my payment of granting your wish Satoko, and I am not satisfied just yet.”

“I have no intention of entertaining you any longer…” Satoko gave the faintest of smiles. “I plan on my life being very boring from here on out.”

“That’s dumb, you’re dumb.” The Witch blew a raspberry at Satoko.

“Well if you’re not a willing participant that doesn’t bode well… I suppose I’ll have to get my fill with one last game. I could always just revoke the power of looping from both of you and leave you stranded here forever, but that does sound boring… I will let you return to the future, for one last high-stakes game. Watching your little club play has gotten me in the mood to perform a game of my own.” The goddess’s face bent into a wicked smirk.

“Oooh, what game are we playing?” The Witch leaned in as the Cat joined her beside Eua.

“Onigokko.” Eua’s grin grew wider.

“Tag? You’re going to have them play Tag?” The Cat tilted her head, perplexed.

Eua held up her hand, a black fragment appearing in it. “Your final test to prove your resolve. During Satoko’s looping, the accumulation of memories irreversibly grew exponentially and so more and more people began to branch out with memories of dying in the tragic Hinamizawa Disaster or succumbing to Hinamizawa Syndrome. This fragment represents the buildup of those accumulated memories, it represents your foolish desire to try and infinitely loop through time as if you could do so forever without consequence. If you can enter and defeat it, you will earn  your return to your original future. However if you fail or are to die, your worlds will once again be separated forever, erasing this little miracle for eternity. The rules are simple: all of the infected townspeople, driven mad by their resurfaced memories are the “Oni” make it to the Saiguden, the ritual storehouse where Satoko first met me, and you will return to your future. However if you are killed beforehand, you will return to your separate, parallel seas of fragments.”

“Oooh, I like this game!” The Witch grinned, giving a haughty laugh.

“That’s not fair! Satoko already apologized for-“ Rika protested, interrupted by a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay Rika… I’ll confront my mistakes. Whether it’s punishment or forgiveness that awaits me, I can’t keep running from it.” Satoko hung her head solemnly before looking up at Eua with determination. “But if we’re playing by club rules, you know we have to give it our all, and I don’t intend to lose.”

“Oh you are endlessly entertaining Vier, good luck.” Eua chuckled before tossing the fragment to Rika and Satoko, sucking them into it in a brilliant light.

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The night sky of Hinamizawa was blood red, blotched with smoke and filled with the sounds of screams and crashes overtaking the normal roar of the cicadas. Standing in the fields, Rika and Satoko could see the glow of fire working its way through the small buildings of the mountain town and the shadows of hurried figures at they ran back and forth.

“This is how people react to loops.” The Cat floated ethereally behind Rika as Hanyuu once had. “See how easily they break to all that you’ve endured?”

“The conflictions of memories and murder and death have driven everyone mad and detached them from reality, what a marvelous game to play.” The Witch gave a haughty laugh from behind Satoko. “I won’t take your body again though, it’s much more fun to watch you play in this instance.” She gave the blonde a smug smirk.

Rika looked pensive for a moment, watching the people scream in torment in the distance as the town she’d wanted to protect and be liberated from so badly burned in front of her. It wasn’t the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, but in a way this was something of their own making, the result of the fight between her and Satoko. She was torn from her thoughts by a hand grasping hers.

“Come on Rika, we have to get to the Saiguden.” Satoko reminded. “If we go to the shrine this way we can avoid going through the bulk of the village.” She led Rika along the dirt path. Running down the rural street on foot reminded her of how frail her childish body was after so long in the Sea of Fragments. Her footing wasn’t sure and her stride was short, if they were found by someone and chased it wouldn’t end well for them.

They made their way down the road and for a time it was quiet, the top of the Furude Shrine’s torii gate could be seen on the horizon, they were getting close. However the closer they got to the shrine, the slower their footsteps got, eyes widening with sudden realization.

There were people moving about the shrine: a lot of them.

“Oh my, there certainly are a lot of them. Did Eua put you back on the day of the Watanagashi Festival? Ohoho~” The Witch cackled.

“RIKA! RIKAAA~~~!!!” A familiar voice pierced the darkness. It was Mayor Kimiyoshi, leading a mob of people on the shrine. “Come out so you can die for the village!” Several of the people were holding makeshift weapons, many already had bloodstains on them.

“Damn…” Satoko cursed under her breath as they tried to get out of view, but it was too late.

“There she is!” One of the villagers shouted from the overlook of the shrine, calling down to the mob on the steps. Taking Rika’s hand, Satoko had no choice but to dash into the thick forest and up the hill, Rika taking her hand away so both could climb up the hill together through the brush.

“You’ll never get away from me in this village Rika!” Kimiyoshi’s shrill shout came from the bottom of the hill as the mob had raced down the stairs to confront Rika.

“I’ve lived in this village for over one hundred years.” Rika’s voice grew harsh, her eyes showing a faint red gleam. “No one knows every inch of it better than I do.” The girls scrambled up the hill, leading them away from the stairs had taken them towards the path where the house Satoko and Rika shared was.

“I found you!” A voice called as Keiichi appeared in front of the two girls. “I knew you’d try something sneaky… now tell me! Why am I feeling this way? Why is my mind full of blood and death and despair!? Kimiyoshi says if we sacrifice you, all this will clear up!”

Rika winced, staring at the dented bat in Keiichi’s hands. “You’re feeling it because of us, everything’s happened to you all at once and it’s too much for anyone…” The Cat’s words to her hung heavy on her. She’d lived these infinite loops many times but this all hit Hinamizawa at once and it would break anyone, whether it was the mob at her back or the friend in her way, she didn’t have much recourse.

“Keiichi-san!” Satoko moved to protect Rika as Keiichi started to swing. “You remember everything, don’t you? When death and destruction flow through your mind it’s easy for that to be the only thing you think about. But once remembering these loops gave you strength. The regret you felt in remembrance gave you the strength to apologize to Rena, it let you hear her apology through the madness.” She outstretched her hands upward, remembering the flashes of the first fragment Eua had shown her.

Keiichi froze, bat still hanging high in the air as he looked down at Satoko’s outstretched hands. He remembered Rena doing the same, remembered breaking those outstretched hands, remembered asking for her forgiveness when she could no longer remember his sins. All of the tragedy that they’d been through, the times he’d killed Rena and Mion, the ones where he’d went on a rampage at Angel Mort, but also the times he’d fought to defend Rena, the times he stood against the village to protect Satoko and Rika. Everything was so vast and the blood of it all had floated to the surface, but deep down the kindness and forgiveness stuck with him.

“Satoko… Rika…” Keiichi sighed, lowering his bat. “I don’t know how long I can keep that pain from my mind, but I have faith in my friends. You guys have a plan, right?”

“Yes!” Both girls gave determined nods.

“Alright, I’ll slow everyone down as much as I can.” He gave a confident smirk, feeling more capable than he probably was. “You guys do what you have to do.”

Rika nodded as she and Satoko ran in the opposite direction, Keiichi heading off part of the mob that was trying to cross the bridge to the shrine. “The will to fight… it’s still so awe-inspiring.” It didn’t come naturally to her, to spit in the face of adversity, but it was something she’d slowly learned over time.

As they passed by the house, the familiar glow of flames overtook their shared home, catching Satoko’s eye as the mob sought to burn out any place they could hide. Just as had happened in the future,  the place where Rika and her could be together was disappearing, making her heart sink, all her efforts to prevent that only hastened the process.

“Rena…” Rika whispered, stopping in front of Satoko, causing her to bump into her from behind.

The red-head’s hands were shaking as she gripped the axe tightly in her hands until her knuckles turned white. “I don’t want to hurt my friends… why are we doing this, I wonder, I wonder?” Her mind was flooded with thoughts of trying to protect her father, of doing her best, but failing to protect him or stop her friends from resorting to murder. “Why… why is it like this…?”

Rika stepped forward this time. “Rena, you’re the most caring person I know. You’ve been hurt a lot but you keep reaching out your hands to forgive and comfort others. Even if you think our existence is a sin, I need to ask you to forgive us once more. Just one more time.”

“I’m the one that’s a sinner…” Rena gently itched her wrist, faintly as if scratching a memory. “Rika-chan… Satoko-chan… why does everyone keep getting hurt no matter what we do? We’re trying our best but… it keeps happening over and over.” The axe trembled in her hands.

“It’s not your fault Rena!” Satoko winced, remembering Rena was the first person she deliberately manipulated in her quest to torture Rika, promising her happiness she was never quite sure she could deliver. “We aren’t being punished by an angry god… we’re doing this to each other, and it’s up to us to forgive each other. Please Rena, don’t let the confusion and blood make you forget everything we shared. I’ve done you wrong, but you’ve always managed to see the best in people and kept reaching out to them even when they couldn’t hear you…”

“I don’t know what I can do… but I won’t hurt you, I won’t…” Rena nodded firmly, stepping down towards where Keiichi was to stall the mob a little longer. Her hands were shaking still but her determination to not shed more blood seemed solid.

Satoko and Rika kept moving, finally reaching the storehouse and finding two people there. To their surprise, Mion and Shion weren’t standing in their way, but confronting each other. “We have to end this!” Shion shouted, flailing against Mion as the other sister tried to hold her wrists. “This damn village, everything that runs it is a corrupt pile of shit! This has to end here, Granny, Rika, Kimiyoshi, they all have to die!!”

Mion’s face contorted in conflict and sadness, but no malice. She too now remembered all the pain and torment her family had seemingly caused throughout the village over numerous interations. She now even remembered getting her own hands dirty as well when her affection for Keiichi drove her to madness. Still that solitary sin in a century’s worth of memories filled her with regret and conviction rather than madness.

“I thought I was trying to be strong as the head of the family, but even I walked down the same path as you with a little prodding, I know where you’re coming from Shion. I wasn’t strong enough to resist that madness myself, nor was I brave enough to stop you when you had succumb to it. Our relationship’s never been easy, taking your place and that meaning I had to be stern against you, it’s no wonder you feel this way. It’s no wonder you have such a trail of blood behind you, I tried my best to be the head of the Sonozaki Family, but in being your sister I was sorely lacking. I wasn’t able to comfort you, I wans’t able to change our Granny like Keiichi did, I didn’t have the bravery he had to stand against tradition, nor the charisma to break it, and you suffered because of that.” Tears streamed down both twins face at Mion’s confession, her grip on Shion’s wrists turning to an embrace as she hugged her twin tightly, weeping between her words.

“I love you, Shion.”

Rika and Satoko rushed past the twins while they were engaged with each other, the mob hot on their trail as the glow of torches enveloped them from behind. Spotting them smaller girls, Shion’s eyes widened as she pushed them into the Saiguden and barred the door shut behind her. “That’s right… I promised I would protect Satoko…”

Mion stretched her arms out, placing herself between the angry mob and the storage warehouse. “You’re not going to sacrifice someone on a superstition! As head of the Sonozaki Family I will not stand for this!” She roared, glaring into the furious cries of the crowd. “This curse ends here!!”

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Inside the storehouse, Rika and Satoko barricaded the door, the banging of the crowd threatening to knock it down at any moment despite the rest of the club’s efforts to stop them. “Well we’re here, what do we do now?” Satoko growled in frustration, looking around the bloodstained room of torture devices and the statue of Oyashiro-sama.

“Well it’s a game of tag~” The Witch teased in Satoko’s ear. “You all haven’t been tagged yet, but apparently you haven’t found home base yet either.”  She gave a smug giggle.

“Eua said this is where we first met…” Satoko looked towards the statue, poking at its midsection and opening another crack as she had before, though instead of the broken horn that came out the first time she’d been here, a light erupted in front of them, a vision of Rena, Keiichi, and Mion searching the storeroom for them as they were in the future.

“There it is!” Rika reached out to touch the portal to the future, but finding it was solid, like touching a pane of glass. “…why can’t we get in?”

“Satoko knows…” The Cat chirped boredly over Rika’s shoulder as a glow from Rika’s pocket caught both of their attention.

To the girls’ surprise, the shard of the Onigari-no-Ryuuou ripped its way out of Rika’s pocket, joining with the full sword as it appeared in Satoko’s hand. “The sword… I hid it here before… I guess it’s the only way to break through into the other world…” She gripped the hilt and raised it to swing at the portal.

“Think about this Satoko Hojo.” The Witch narrowed her eyes. “If you do this, everything you’ve done until now will be for naught. You’ll go back to that lonely world where everyone’s moved on without you and you and Rika are drifting apart.”

“Even staying here I can’t stop Rika and I from drifting apart.” Satoko closed her eyes and took a deep breath, though her hands were still shaking and she couldn’t bring herself to make the swing even with the banging on the storage room door growing louder.

“You can’t stop the future.” Rika sighed and nodded, taking Satoko’s hand. “You can delay it, you can close yourself off from it, you can try and try to do better, but you can’t stop it forever. Still, it’s something you have to choose to be a part of. I know you desperately tried to change your fate as I tried to change mine. It’s a very painful process, but as much as knowing when to reject fate is important, knowing when to accept it is just as important. If you can accept the future as it is, I can promise you we’ll face it together.”

Satoko had heard such promises before, and knew they couldn’t always be trusted, no matter how hard she tried, she and Rika ended up in different places, worlds apart. But still, she wanted to trust Rika one more time. She wanted to move forward and at least try to start to be forgiven.

“Okay… I’ll choose the future…”

Rika and Satoko’s hands gripped the Ongari-no-Ryuuou and swung down into the fragment.

-----------------------------------

The two girls tumbled into the storehouse with a whimper, rubbing their sore backsides as they were greeted by their friends, still on their break from school after picking them up at St. Lucia’s, just as they had left them. The three older kids had looks of concern on their faces at they spotted Satoko and Rika fall from seemingly nowhere.

“There you two are, geez what’s with you guys?” Keiichi huffed. “You disappeared and we looked everywhere for you! Lucky Mion had the keys to this place, how’d you know they’d be here?”

Mion rubbed the bridge of her nose. “This old man just had a hunch is all. Don’t you remember that game of hide of seek we played where we found Rika here?”

“Ah? I don’t remember that, I don’t.” Rena gave a puzzled look and tilted her head. “Are you making up stories again Mion-san?”

“Ehehe, maybe it’s kind of fuzzy…” Mion chuckled and put her hands on her hips. “At least everyone’s here, I’m glad things have changed around here, if Granny found us all in here like this a few years ago there’d be hell to pay.”

Satoko’s eyes widened as she silently looked at the statue of Oyashiro-sama, the head, chest, and even the hand were unbroken, reminding her of how much trouble Rika had gotten in when she had been blamed for Satoko breaking the statue’s arm.

“Oh, you noticed that huh?” Mion grinned, spying Satoko looking at the arm. “A few years ago I snuck in here and fixed the statue’s arm. Rika-chan got blamed for it when you guys were little, but it was you, right Satoko?”

Satoko looked like a kicked puppy as she hung her head with a small nod.

“Don’t worry, like I said things are different now. Plus there’s no harm done, you can hardly see where it was broken.” She ran a finger over the seam where she had diligently worked to repair it.

“There’s a crack… it wasn’t like that before and it’ll never be the same…” Satoko huffed, glancing to the corner of the storehouse where the Onigari-no-Ryuuou lay  tucked away in a corner under some other instruments, the seam where Rika’s shard had fused into it was still clearly visible.

“That’s true I guess, once you break something it’ll never be like new again.” Mion pondered while looking over the statue. “Something perfect and unbroken is very beautiful, but something that’s been broken and repaired has something more than beauty, it has wisdom. Like a scar…” She gingerly reached to her back, where the demon tattoo was branded onto her. “They’re like an experience, a reminder of something you learned from. Breaking this statue made you empathize with how Rika felt, right? It may even have made you closer friends. Then in that case you’ve learned from that scar.” She smirked.

Satoko looked up at her and nodded slowly, looking at Rika who gave her a tender smile. “That’s right, Mii~”

“Rika, I…. I don’t want to go to St. Lucia’s anymore. I want to stay here in Hinamizawa.” Satoko finally admitted to Rika and herself.

“Oh, so that’s what this was all about…” Keiichi rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little awkward that they’d seemingly drug up this disagreement. “I thought you guys were a little cold to each other on the ride out here…”

“I know… I wanted to share St. Lucia’s with you, but I know I can’t force you into somewhere you don’t want to be…” Rika nodded softly, a faint smile tinged by sadness crossing her face.

“Heyyy, listen to me.” Keiichi growled, flicking both their foreheads.

“Ow!”

“Hey!”

“We all went to different schools right? And yet we’re here now. Just because we’re not together every day and we want different things doesn’t mean we’re not friends. That’s why Mion organized this whole thing. After everything we’ve been through, do you think we’d forget each other just because we’re not constantly together?”

“That’s true, loving someone means wanting them to be where they’ll grow best, right?” Rena smiled and giggled, watching the two rub their foreheads, swooning a bit at the cyuuute scene. “Everyone’s different and nothing’s guaranteed, so we have to cherish the time we have together and work harder to stay connected while helping each other grow.”

“Alright, this old man’s sick of all this mush, let’s get out of here and go get something to eat.” Mion cracked her knuckles and grinned. “Shion’s waiting for us down at Angel Mort, so let’s get going.”

“Yeah…” Satoko nodded, taking Rika’s hand gently as the other three led them out of the storehouse, into the light of the sunset.

“I don’t know what kind of future I’ll have with Rika, but trying to force it will only divide us more, I’m going to cherish the time I have with her now, and keep growing into who I need to be to stay connected with her, even if from a distance… if we do drift away, I’m going to love her now as best I can… I’ll remember everything I’ve had with her and the unbridled joy it’s brought me. I won’t be sad.”

“I won’t cry.”

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“Awww, that was so much fun! Just one more round!” Eua pouted, watching the fragment with a frustrated growl. “I just want to torture them a little more!”

“You promised!” Hanyuu growled angrily, her eyes turning red. “Besides, the way they are now, I don’t think you’ll have the same kind of fun playing that sort of game with them again. Let Rika and Satoko live their lives.”

“That’s true, playing the same game over and over again is boring.” The Cat sighed as she floated by.

“We should find a new game to play, with brand new pawns to mess with.” The Witch cackled, shifting as she grabbed the Cat’s hands and twirled her in the air.

“Maybe my next game will be without you.” The Cat’s eyes lowered despondently.

The Witch chuckled loudly. “I’ll find you whatever game you play, and we can play together!”

The Cat huffed. “If you come after me, I’ll run away.”

“If you stop coming after me, you’ll find me.”

“If you go north, I’ll go south.”

“If you go east, I’ll go west.”

“We’ll see each other again someday.”

“Sooner than we think.”

“When they Cry, whoever they are.”

#ooc #Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni #Higurashi Sotsu #Higurashi #HNNKN #Fanfiction #Higurashi Gou #When They Cry #Satoko Hojo #Rika Furude

[cherrynojutsu]

Title: Years Past

Summary: Sakura haunts their small home in grief, feeling already a ghost even while surrounded with beautiful raven-haired children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As she sees each and every one of them over the months that follow, a select few stare back with her own eyes. Most of them are so like her husband's, though, luciform soot flecked with silver, and she feels so sorry when she looks too long and starts to cry. Romance, Character Death, Sad With a Happy Ending, Sakura POV.

Disclaimer: I did not write Naruto. This is a fan-made piece solely created for entertainment purposes.

Rating: T

A/N: A little late to this prompt, but better late than never, I suppose. This has been sitting in my drafts since June, but reading it made me emotional and I got distracted by writing things for Like Gold. I apologize for the tardiness!

Sasusaku Month 2021, Day 7 Prompt: Years Past @ssskmonth

AO3 Link - FF.net Link

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Sakura passes in her sleep, marcid and weary of a broken heart and missing mismatched eyes, at the age of eighty-two.

It is longer than most Shinobi make it by far, but she doesn't feel very grateful for it, in the last five excruciating months of her life.

Her husband hadn't made it to eighty-two; Sasuke-kun passed in December. It had been peaceful, all three of their children, most of their grandchildren, and even some great grandchildren, the ones not on missions outside of the village, at his bedside.

Sakura had been there, too, old and frail and holding his hand. She'd kissed him goodbye tearily, sensing it was almost time after decades of watching it happen to others inside secluded hospital walls. It had been in front of nearly all of their descendants, family the only thing helping to hold her together in his final moments.

He hadn't complained. He'd kissed her back, for everyone to see, and Sarada and the twins had started crying, then, squeezing their hands around those of their parents, because they knew it really was time.

He had thanked her, said her name one last time, all equanimity even then. Then, so softly, "I love you. I'll see you next time," before he went, bones settling wearily at long last.

There had been melancholy in his expression even in death, wrinkled skin turning glaucous and beginning to sag against old, hardened muscle.

Sasuke-kun was buried next to Itachi’s memorial. There is a plot he saved for her on his other side, his right arm, the hand she held so many times in life.

Sakura haunts their small home in grief, feeling already a ghost even while surrounded with beautiful raven-haired children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As she sees each and every one of them over the months that follow, a select few stare back with her own eyes. Most of them are so like her husband's, though, luciform soot flecked with silver, and she feels so sorry when she looks too long and starts to cry. Little Satoko, their newest great-grandchild all of eleven months old who she dotes on endlessly, reaches at her wrinkled cheeks to try to wipe them dry, babbling out a garbled version of "Oobasan, no cwy." He is talking earlier than most babies, stormy eyes eerily full of awareness and an endless lineage, just like Sarada at that age. Sakura laughs as she sobs, cradling him close to her heart, and looking out her window at their daughter's visage on the mountain. It is also Satoko's grandmother's image; it is hard to believe their sweet little baby is now old enough to be a grandmother. She remembers the first time Sarada had smiled at Sasuke-kun, the first time he held her at only an hour old, and he broke down sobbing.

She makes the trek to Sasuke-kun's grave every day for 138 days, each step an arduous agony, before stooping down to lay a fresh daffodil atop the soil where her husband's bones rest. She has also planted white lilies around his headstone, the same as those that surround Itachi's and the Uchiha Memorial Stone. Her children help her keep them watered as needed through a short spring drought; she is too old to carry a watering can now without spilling.

She misses him. It hurts worse than Sasori's poison or Madara stabbing her or giving birth or a giant shuriken nearly cleaving her in two.

There is joy to be found in the desolation, too, in her last few months of life. Their progenies throw her a birthday party like none other, and she eats her fill of cake while watching little hands eat some, too. Little Satoko dances, or moreso balters, with Sarada in time to a dramatic song he finds by pressing buttons on the radio; it is not a very appropriate tune for a dance with a toddler, all clumsy crescendo and orchestra, but amusing all the same. Sasuke-kun would have smiled, if he were there.

The white lilies bloom before her eyes one last time, resplendent and perfect. She gets to hear about Haruki making Chunin on the first try, every bit the pride of the Uchiha, reborn anew with Sharingan blazing. She even gets to see Akiko make Jonin in person, ambitious and ingenious with Sharingan and diamond seal on her forehead setting her apart from her adversaries in the arena.

But finally, at long last, it is her culminating day. 138 days doesn't seem like a long time to be without him, compared to the larger number of days he was absent in their youth, but she finds it is worse, following their life together.

She tells them all she loves them and falls asleep for the last time, watches their confluence of family say goodbye from above. Sarada and the twins cry the hardest, clinging to her body as her heart finally pumps for the last time. Satoko is too young to understand, but he pats at her, too, in a sea of dark-haired descendants that she knows will continue to bring honor back to a clan revived at the brink of death. She takes in each and every one of their beautiful faces one last time, faces so similar to Sasuke-kun's; not a single one of them has her nose.

It is a legacy of love they have created, exactly the dream they started willing into color the day they discovered they had made Sarada together.

Then, she is on a dock that has slightly singed edges, looking over a small, familiar pond.

It is a spring evening, the sun just falling beneath the horizon and cherry blossoms abloom, and she thinks that is strange, because it is June and Hanami has already passed them by. Satoko had been so cute in his new outfit; she had made it herself, not much else to do in their empty house filled with aching memories. The tiny uchiwa on the back of his collar was sewn with the utmost care, the kind that came from decades of practice.

Crickets chirp, cicadas buzz, and there are a few fireflies leaking out of the greenery, soft light reflectant in the stillness of the water. It is serene. She had sat on this dock many times with her husband, when he was alive, on his right side so she could hold his hand. He told her she was beautiful during Hanami here, every year. She shifts to begin the process of sitting down, planning on leaving the space he'd taken up in life empty for him, in case his ghost is around. She has felt it, sometimes, tugging at her own spirit; she leaves his side of the bed empty every night, trying to will him back to her.

As Sakura shifts, she looks down, and she is startled to see pink hair instead of white, and no wrinkles. She crouches to analyze herself more closely in water still as glass, and there are no creaking old bones. She is young again, somehow.

She is overjoyed; she will be able to water the white lilies herself again. She can even dance with little Satoko now.

Light footsteps sound behind her, and just as she stands and turns, she is being swept into an unfamiliar yet comforting pair of arms. A woman with long inky hair, black as night, is hugging her tight.

"Thank you for loving my son," she breathes immediately, and Sakura starts crying, because she somehow knew who it was before she even said anything, without even seeing her face. When her eyes focus blearily through tears over Mikoto Uchiha's shoulder, Sasuke-kun's brother is walking up not far behind her.

Itachi Uchiha is smiling at her like she's done something wonderful, like he has been waiting for years to meet her. He is younger, healthier here, flecks of silver dancing in eyes just like her husband's, just like their childrens'. There's an impossible ache in her chest.

He waits patiently for his mother to pull back. When she finally does, Sakura looks into her eyes, and Mikoto is smiling at her so big, like she hung the moon in the sky, beginning to peek out from behind clouds above them.

"I have waited so long to meet you," she says, eyes shining, and her eyes are like Sasuke-kun's, too. "You are so beautiful."

Then Itachi is embracing her, and Sakura cries harder, because his arms feel almost like Sasuke-kun's arm had felt, slipping around her for sixty-one years of marriage, the same height and strong.

"I have waited, too. It's an honor. Thank you, for everything," Itachi says as she sobs.

"They are so beautiful, too, Sakura," Mikoto adds softly, hand at her shoulder, and she knows she means their children, Mikoto's grandchildren that she hasn't gotten to hold yet, Sarada and the twins and their children and all the others. Little Satoko had made twenty-seven blood relatives; including spouses who married into the clan, the number was thirty-eight, and there were two more babies on the way, yet.

Itachi lets her go, smile tender when he pulls away. He directs his gaze momentarily to the path leading up the hill, as if he's looking for someone.

She follows his gaze; Fugaku Uchiha is coming over the top, all stoicism even as a spirit. He stops momentarily and gives her a nod of recognition, not breaking eye contact for a long time.

Then, he glances back over his shoulder, tilts his head as if telling someone to follow him down the hill, and Sakura is running, though she hasn't been able to for years.

Sasuke-kun is all of twenty again, young and strong, too handsome for his own good and every bit the sweet but stoic man she fell in love and grew old with. He's smiling at her, just for her, and she's in his arms - he has both, here - in the blink of mismatched, teary eyes.

His arms feel like home, two spirits together in permanence at long last. It is the same feeling as the little piece of heaven they touched together whenever they made love, souls intertwining, but this time for good. She has missed him. Oh, she has missed him.

"...I told you I'd see you next time," he murmurs against her hair.

#this doesn't feel quite as polished as my other stuff tbh but i still like it #feels more raw emotion #ssm21 #ssm21d7 #sasusaku #naruto #ssfanfiction #cherry writes