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weirdthinkingdragon · 3 years

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Slithering Chains PT (1/3)

Yandere naga present mic x reader

quirkless/aged up au. Warnings: Only swearing for now

“C’mon Y/N! It will be fun! Rumor has it there are friendly nagas on the island!” Gushed Mina. That makes me cross my arms. She’s seriously out of her mind if she thinks it’s a good idea to go to an island for something that’s a supposed rumor.

“I highly doubt they’d be friendly. Especially since we’d technically be invading their territory.” I reply. She rolls her eyes and huffs.

“Besides, why should we go looking for a damn overgrown lizard?” Katsuki cuts in with a scowl and his arms crossed. Hanta shrugs. “I’m with Mina on this. It would be really cool to see one,” he turns to Eijiro. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping we could go camping instead somewhere. Katsuki still has to show me those incredibly manly skills he learned back in boy scouts he hasn’t shown me yet.” Katsuki’s face went to full-on pride.

Mina suddenly jumps up and down. “I have the PERFECT idea! We should go camping at the island!!! That way we could do both!”

“Ooh! That’s a great idea! Count me in!” Exclaimed Denki.

Katsuki’s face falls into a deep frown. “That actually sounds like a good idea!” Eijiro cheerfully replies. Mina fist-bumps the air and tackles Eijiro into a tight hug. “You can definitely count me in!.” Hanta pipes up.

I can already tell we’re not going to win this argument. Wait, didn’t Hanta go to boy scouts as well? “Weren’t you in boy scouts too? Can’t you do the same things?” I question. He sheepishly smiles at me. “Eh, I didn’t last very long in it for a few different reasons.”

“Not showing up half the damn time and hanging out with dunce face really didn’t help.” Katsuki informs. They both flinch at his words. “Uh… let’s not talk about that…”

They all suddenly turn to me expectantly, even Katsuki, probably hoping I deny. You know what? There’s nothing too bad that could possibly happen, and they most likely won’t stop begging until we do. “... fine,” I turn to Katsuki. “You better have some mad skills.”

He glares at me annoyed. “Of fucking course they’re good!”

I smirk. Sometimes he’s so fun to piss off. “Well, pack up guys. We’re going camping.”

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

It took a little longer than we thought to find a boat that would take us. No one wanted to go to the island. We eventually found a place around the ocean that would bring us for a rather large fee. None of us were happy about that but it was the best shot we had. Also if something happens to us on the island we’re on our own since they won’t come back for four days to pick us up. Good thing we packed extra food. We also only brought three tents since they’d be a hassle to carry otherwise and we can take turns carrying them if needed.

We get right up to the island and get dropped off on a sandy beach. The boat immediately pulls away from the island. A nagging feeling was rising in the back of my mind. “You wonder why none of them wanted to come to this island?” I suddenly question.

“It does seem a little odd. Even the one we came on left pretty quickly. I’m sure it’s nothing important though!” Eijiro replies.

I refuse to let it fly by. Something about that seems more wrong the more I think about it. Looking at Katsuki, he seems to be thinking the same way I am. The other four take off towards the tall trees not too far from the beach. With the sun being at its highest peak, the trees are casting a large shady area half over the beach. I’m a little jealous of how he’s carrying two of the tents and his backpack so effortlessly.

Luckily they waited up ahead for us. “Seriously, if you and I weren’t around, I swear they’d have died of their crazy antics years ago.” He grunts in confirmation. Denki sees something and takes off in another direction.

“Denki! Get your ass back here! We need to stick together for now!” I yell at him.

“Come here then! This place has weird blueberries!”

Oh no. “Denki! Don’t eat them/Don’t even touch the fucking bush!” Katsukii and I yell simultaneously. We quickly get up to him with the other three trailing behind us. Katsuki goes right up to him and slaps the small black berry in his hand out of it. “You fucking dumbass, that’s nightshade!”

Looking at the bush, it wasn’t just any nightshade. I facepalm. “We haven’t been here for even ten minutes and you already almost ate deadly nightshade.”

From the fear that grew on Denki’s face, he understood well the name of the plant and stepped away. “Whew, well, uh… Good thing I didn’t eat one yet, huh?”

The only reply was Katsuki smacking Denki on his forehead.

“I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!” He shrieks.

Boisterous laughter comes from above. We look around, and my eyes catch onto a long tail draping across a few of the branches higher up. It was light green with darker green lines across and a pale yellow underside. “Good thing ya caught your friend! I was just about to stop him myself!” The large serpent body trickles to the floor like molasses until the too human-like torso comes down as well. His hair is incredibly long. It’s past where his torso ends and the snake part begins. He’s. Fucking. Massive. I look at Mina. “You didn’t tell me they were this big!”

“How was I supposed to know!? The news never said anything about their size!” She yells at me. Katsuki goes into a fighting stance like he could actually do harm to the giant thing. Judging from the chest and face, it’s a male. His green eyes match the light green on his tail, and his hair matches his underside.

The naga replies with another laugh, leans down, and pokes my nose. “Well, I am! And you guys must be curious humans, huh? There haven’t been any here in quite a while!”

My brain is still trying to process how large he is. He’s longer than four of me together. An intrusive wanting of touching his tail pops up in my mind. Seriously!? I JUST saw him and want to touch him? What the everloving FUCK mind!?

He looks at our backpacks. “Ooh! Ya guys stayin’ for a few days? That’s great! You guys can tell me more about your place!” Mina wasn’t kidding about them seeming to be friendly. “Those bags seem heavy, would you like me to help?”

I shake my head. “Nah, we got it. Do you know a place we could set up a camp though?” I ask him. He nods enthusiastically. “Yeah! There’s a pretty good open area by my cave!” He takes a sharp left turn with his body a little ways ahead of us.

We all look at each other and shrug. He seems friendly enough. Well, Katsuki is the only one still not on board with being around the naga. The naga could be faking, but he seems pretty genuine. My bet is it just hurts Katsuki’s pride he wouldn’t be able to take the naga down himself if a fight breaks out. He’d still try though knowing him.

The naga kept stopping and looking behind to make sure we were following. Most of us were falling a bit behind since he was still rather fast despite his constant stopping. It must have been about twenty minutes until we got into a clearing with a giant cave next to it. Denki is breathing rather heavily. He throws off his backpack and faceplants into the soft dirt. We all laugh at him, even the naga. Throwing my backpack off, I roll my already stiff shoulders. Man, how do hikers keep those giant backpacks on for so long?

I look over at Katsuki. Once again, the all-powerful man doesn’t even need to do that. “Dude, I seriously envy you sometimes.” He rolls his eyes. “You’re just weak, dumbass. You’re also not used to it.”

“Hey, hey, hey! No need to be talkin’ like that! We’re all friends!”

Katsuki’s face goes into a snarl. “You can’t tell me what to do, you fucking overgrown lizard.” The naga has an astonished facial reaction for a second. “Sorry about him, he’s always like this.” Eijiro sheepishly informs.

He shakes his head, and grows a smirk. “Well, good thing you’re all used to it! I gotta say, haven’t been called an overgrown lizard before! Also, shouldn’t it be ‘an overgrown reptile’?” He goes up to Katsuki and starts poking his forehead. “What other so-clever names ya got hidden up in there?” Katsuki tries to bite his finger, making him quickly pull his hand away. “Feisty!~”

“We all kinda have a nickname he gives us. Mine’s shitty hair, but uh, please just call me Eijiro! What’s yours by the way?” He questions.

His eyes widened. “Right! Name’s Hizashi! Ya probably heard of me at some point!” We all look confused at each other. “Nope, sorry, that name doesn’t ring any bells.” He grew sad for a moment about that, and mumbled something.

I decided to try bringing him out of… whatever he’s getting into. “Mine is Y/N. The crabby one is Katsuki, the other blond is Denki, the pink-haired is Mina, and the black-haired one is Hanta. We may not have heard of you, but maybe you could tell us about yourself after we set up camp? As long as you’re truly okay with that.” I say, a little concerned we might still be intruding on his territory.

“I’d love to! And of course you guys can stay around here for a while! It’s probably better since some nagas don’t like humans too much.” Katsuki crosses his arms. “Well, I dare them to take me on.” Hizashi pinches his cheek for a second, only to be nearly bitten again. “Aw, like ya could do much harm to us! Your enthusiasm is great though! They’d easily crush you.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I’m not going down without a fight.” I roll my eyes at him. The others snicker at my reaction. “Anyways, we’re burning daylight. Let’s set up camp, and maybe our new friend could show us around a bit.”

He mock bows. “Gladly, your highness!” Mina snickers and whispers “I ship it” jokingly. I give her a “really bitch?” look, making her almost keel over in silent laughter. It doesn’t take long for us all to take out our things and start setting up the tents. I pull out my rolled up sleeping bag to place next to the tent. “Yellow, huh?” Questions Hizashi. He gets a far-off look in his eyes for a second. I look down at the giant obnoxious yellow sleeping bag in my hands.

“Not my choice of color, but it was on sale for a really good price, so I thought I might as well. Is there something wrong with it?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “No, not at all! It just reminds me of another human that came here a while ago!” There was a look in his face that almost seemed obsessed. None of the others noticed the possibly red flag. Mina was too busy goofing off with Hanta and Denki, which were having trouble setting up their tent. Eijiro was trying to help Katsuki, but he kept messing Katsuki up, making him get multiple smacks on his head.

“Is it okay to ask what happened to him?” His face turns into a harsh glare. It was easy to tell it wasn’t directed at me. “His “friends” took him from me when he left my cave one night. I waited years for him to return, but he never did. They must not be letting him return!” His tone went from angry, to sad, back to angry.

Something doesn’t seem to add up with that. If he really wanted to return, he would have visited a while ago. Then again, it was pretty hard finding a boat to bring us here, and life can get hectic quite easily. I decided to put it in the back of my mind and focus on the now.

The sound of tazing brought my attention to Denki, Mina, and Hanta. Mina has an electronic flyswatter in her hand, and smacked Denki with it. “Mina! That’s not what that’s for!” I yell at her.

She laughs. “Come on, it’s not hurting him too badly!”

“Easy for you to say! How about I zap you now!?” He swipes it from her and smacks her forearm with it, making her shriek.

I facepalm. “Which one of you idiots brought the flyswatter?” Hanta and Mina point at Denki. I glare at Mina. “What were you doing digging in his backpack when you could have been helping me put up the damn tent?” She replies with an embarrassed smile.

I’m struggling to keep the tent up and push the tent pegs into the ground without a hammer. “I can help ya! What should I do?” Hizashi asks. “Could you help me push these in?” He nods and I move out of the way to hold the tent tight. He slams the tip of his tail on the peg, pushing it all the way down in one go. It honestly startles me. “Jeez dude! A little warning would be nice!”

He rubs his neck sheepishly. “Sorry!” As we do the other three pegs, I can’t stop looking at his tail. He seems to notice, and wags the tip of it. “Like what ya see?” He teases. I look away in embarrassment. “Don’t worry about it! I was kinda the same way the first time I saw one of your kind!” He puts his tail in front of me. “I can tell you wanna touch it. Go ahead!”

I’m unsure about it, but place my hand gently on the top of his tail. It was the back of it closer to his human torso. Nothing but raw muscle, and the heat it radiated was phenomenal. I quickly take my hand away.

“You two are getting along well quick! And to think you didn’t want to come Y/N!” Mina comes up and teases. Hizashi seems surprised by hearing that news. “Aw, good thing ya did though! It’s already fun having you guys around!”

“Yeah, yeah. Enough of that stupid cheesy talk or whatever. Show us around.” Katsuki says half-heartedly like he really doesn’t want to be here. Hizashi ignores his lack of enthusiasm and nods with a smile. He then starts to move his body to the right of us.

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

A few hours after, we arrive back to our camp exhausted. The sun was close to setting. Even Katsuki’s breathing was slightly ragged. We’ve learned a lot about this place. Mostly not many nagas are too open to humans, and there aren’t that many due to most being quite territorial as well as females being rather rare. The four of them were horrified learning we could have met a bad end. Katsuki and I called it that they wouldn’t be too friendly.

There is also the giant pile of wood he’s been collecting in case any humans visit. That’s so nice of him. He told us it gets pretty boring since not many talk to him, even the others on the other side of the giant island. That makes me feel rather bad for him. Of course, Mina being Mina, hugged him then. He returned the hug with no objections. He also told us the lifespan of nagas can be an average of 800 years. He himself is only about 300 years old. We all almost fainted from the shock of that.

He helps haul a ton of rather large pieces of wood and sticks next to his cave. The pile was a bit farther out so it wasn’t in his way of his cave. Katsuki starts setting up the fire with a bunch of giant rocks that Hizashi still has around. It takes him no time at all to start a good fire.

“Way to go dude! Knew you had the skills!” I tease. He glares at me in a way that shows he’s dangerously close to smacking me. I only give him a smirk in return. “Of fucking course, dumbass. Why would I not?” I shrug in reply.

“Hey, you guys want marshmallows? I brought a few bags.” Hanta says, grabbing a bag of marshmallows out of his backpack, along with two short roasters that can extend.

“Sure dude, pass me the bag. I’d rather eat them not roasted.” Denki informs. Hanta passes him the bag while he extends the roasters and passes one to Eijiro. After Denki opens the bag, Hizashi reels away a little bit, catching my attention.

“You alright?” I ask him. “Heh, yeah! Those things just smell a little too sweet for me, ya know?” I nod in understanding.

“Oh yeah, I guess it would be pretty weird, huh?” Mina wonders aloud.

“Would you like us to put them away?” I ask. Denki hugs the bag of marshmallows to his chest. Hizashi shakes his head. “Nah, I’ll be fine. Thanks for being so considerate though!”

After a bit, we decided to tell scary stories. The cheesy usual thing to do. Hizashi seems rather invested in every story told, no matter how bad it is. Right now, Mina is saying hers, and it’s actually pretty good. It’s about a male serial killer that fell obsessed with a male victim of his. The male refused to be with the killer for the obvious reason of them being a killer, and that they’re not interested in men. They were able to escape the chains the killer put them in, and picked up a large piece of a broken mirror that was near him. He decided to give the killer the element of surprise by pretending to still be chained.

“And so, while the killer’s back was turned, the male plunges the glass through the killer’s back!” she brings her hands up for some sort of dramatic emphasis. “They ran towards the still-chained other person and helped them pull the chains free while keeping an eye on the killer who fell to the ground. The man knew the killer was still alive, there was no way they died that quick. He helps the victim pass the killer and tries to pass himself, only to be grabbed by the ankle by the killer! He was still weak though, so it was easy enough for the man to break free and run outside. Luckily for them, they were in a neighborhood with a house not far away.”

We’re all honestly at the end of our seats listening intently. Well, minus Denki who seems rather terrified. Hizashi has an unreadable expression.

“The neighbors were terrified, but called the police for help. The only problem?... There was no body on the floor when the police investigated. There was only blood. To make things scarier, the blood belonged to someone not in the system.” She grows quiet.

“Is that it?” Denki questions.

She shakes her head. “The man knew the killer would come for him again. He moved to the other side of the country. Everything seemed fine for him years later, starting his own family and moving on. At least, until he came home from work one night to a rather quiet home. He enters the home to the copper smell of blood overpowering him, bringing back memories he’s tried so hard to forget. He turns on the light to see his wife in her own blood, his blood freezing in fear. The familiar voice of the killer whispers behind him “You want a family? Well, now we can be.” and the last thing he saw was his children with nothing but fear tied up on the couch in the living room.”

I was in shock that she said a story so dark. “Damn Mina, that was a wicked story! Where did you learn such a story?” I ask.

“It was actually from a book a friend told me about!”

“They sure have a shitty taste in books.” Katsuki quips.

“Like yours is probably much better, little boy scout.” I sarcastically reply. His fists clench.

“Uh, hey! Maybe we should all go to bed! We have another big day tomorrow of exploring.” Eijiro pipes up, trying to prevent Katsuki from doing anything drastic. Katsuki growls and stomps off to his and Eijiro’s tent.

Mina lets out a big yawn herself, stretches, and goes towards our tent. Denki and Hanta go to their tent as well. Hizashi puts a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, uh… Would ya mind hanging out with me for a while yet?”

I shrug. “Sure, just let me get my sleeping bag.” I go and get it, Mina giving me a teasing smirk. “Don’t you get those thoughts in your head.”

I drag the sleeping bag over close to the still burning fire. It grows quiet between us for a bit, the only sound being the crackling of the fire and the chirping of the crickets. His tail wraps around the bottom of my sleeping bag, trapping me from moving if I decided to by being around my feet. I reach down and pat his tail.

“So, is there anything you want to talk about now?” I ask, lowering my voice to a near whisper so the others could sleep. “Well, how long are you guys planning on staying?”

“After this, three days. We couldn’t get them to change the amount of days. It was so odd and hard getting here.” Hizashi perks up at that information. “Anyways, what are we doing tomorrow?” I ask.

“Ooh! There’s a waterfall not too far from here I think you and your friends will like! It’s kinda hidden, and we’ll have to be careful since it will be close to two of my kinds territories, but as long as we don’t do anything it shouldn’t be a problem. One of them is the other most friendly naga I know! He may even come say hi!”

“I bet Mina will be happy about that.” I felt more of his tail stealthily trying to go farther on my legs.

“You’re really not being stealthy you know,” His tail stops. “Sorry. I just can’t help but wanting to touch someone as cute as you!~”

Heat rushed to my face. “Well, you can hug me if you want. You just had to ask.”

He didn’t have to be told twice before his tail wrapped more around my sleeping and his bare torso went against my back. This isn’t exactly what I had in my head, but I did say hug. He’s still rather warm to the point of it slightly going through my sleeping bag. “How are you still so warm?”

“This place usually doesn’t get that cold. My body’s most likely used to that.”

“Makes sense I guess.”

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

I wake up to feeling something tight around me, and whispering. I can’t move my arms either. It’s obviously Hizashi. “Katsuki bro, you don’t have to do anything! He’s not hurting them.”

“I don’t fucking care. There’s something about that damn thing that isn’t sitting right!”

“Aw, you truly care about-” Denki starts. He suddenly stops.

“You’re probably just overreacting. We’ve only been here not even a full day. He’s still pretty friendly.” Eijiro sounds almost desperate.

“That’s the thing you fucking dumbasses! Did you not hear him last night with Y/N? It’s not fucking-”

“Well, mornin to you guys too!” Hizashi suddenly pipes up, silencing all of them. Ugh, it’s too early. I groan and nuzzle closer into his tail in front of me. I don’t feel like opening my eyes to look at them.

Hizashi laughs. “Morning to you as well!”

I felt someone get close to me besides Hizashi. “Mina, I swear if you touch me with that fly swatter…” She steps away, confirming my prediction. “How did you know?”

“You dumbasses are known for doing such stupid things. Not really a surprise.” Katsuki replies. “Aw, Katsuki, you don’t have to be so mean about it!” Denki jokes.

“Shut up guys. It’s too early.” I grumble.

“Early? The sun is already half way to its highest point!” Hizashi replies with a teasing tone. I only reply with a groan again.

Hanta clears his throat. “So, uh… What are we doing today?”

“I already told Y/N last night, but we’re going to a waterfall today!”

“A waterfall? How did we not hear it on our walk yesterday?” Eijiro asks. “Simple! It’s the other direction over a cliff!” he states like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “C-cliff? Isn’t that dangerous?” Denki asks.

“We will be fine! I’ve done it many times before!”

“If you say so…” Eijiro replied, sounding quite unsure.

Hizashi unwraps around me almost reluctantly. He rubs the top of my head, waking me up a bit. “C’mon, ya gotta get up so we can go Y/N!” I ignore them and try to sleep again, using my arms as a pillow since Hizashi is no longer by my head.

“Tzzt” Something touched my arm and sent a sharp pain through my arm. I instantly knew what it was, and I am NOT happy. I get up instantly. “Minaaaa!”

“Oh shit!” She drops the electric fly swatter and takes off running behind Hizashi.

Denki and Hanta start laughing. “Get her Y/N!!!” Hizashi blocks me with his hands and holds Mina by his tail while chuckling. It wasn’t light like usual though. This sounded slightly darker if that makes sense. All I know is it sent a chill up my spine. I glare hard at Mina.

“Now, I know whatever that thing was woke ya up, but let’s not focus on that, and let’s get going to the waterfall, yeah? If you want, I could carry you for a bit more sleep!” I back away in embarrassment. “That’s okay. Let’s just get going then.”

He laughs normally again and lets go of Mina.

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

It didn’t take too long to start climbing the cliff to the waterfall. The crashing waves of it is able to be heard in the distance. Hizashi is leading the way with us rather close. It’s getting rather narrow and crumbling with a really high view in front of us. It’s beautiful with the trees, but terrifying how one step can make you fall off the edge. More ground crumbles under my shoe. My foot is basically off the edge at this point. I look up at Hizashi. I’m right beside him while the others are a bit back. “This seems like a bad idea. I think this is more-” My foot slips and I start to fall. My heart feels like it stopped. “Shit!”

“Y/N!” they all yell. Faster than someone can even blink, Hizashi’s tail wrapped around my torso before I got too far down the cliff. I look down to see a very deep drop that would obviously kill me, but what was even more concerning was the naga looking up at me. It has to be twice the size of Hizashi.

Hizashi kept a very tight grip on my torso as my legs shakily kept trying to give out as he had me stand up. We all stopped for a moment. “That’s it, fuck the waterfall. This isn’t worth going for.” Katsuki says, even more angry than usual.

I can feel Hizashi shaking as well. “Heh, that was not a part of the plan. We’ll be going down towards the waterfall soon. I’ll see if Toshinori would let me bring you guys through his territory on the way back.”

“Well, why didn’t we do that in the first place!? Y/N could have died!” Eijiro exclaims. “I’ll admit, I thought the fear would be funny. Definitely not now!”

He kept me closer to him as we went down the cliff. It felt better the closer the even ground came to be. The giant naga I saw earlier comes fast into our view. He has a bright golden tail that matches his hair. The most obvious part of him is a giant scar on his side. His eyes show great concern. “Are you all okay!? I saw what happened a bit ago,” His eyes squinted at Hizashi. “And I TOLD you to stop taking that way with visitors!”

Hizashi replies with a teasing roll of his eyes, but it’s showing that he understands and does regret taking that route. “Very shaken up, but fine I think.” I reply. It wasn’t until now I noticed how the waterfall is much louder. He nods. “That’s a relief. I take it you’re going to the waterfall?”

We nodded. Mina quickly goes up to him. ‘Hey, what’s your name by the way? Mine’s Mina!”

He grows a kind and friendly smile on his face. “Toshinori. Nice to meet all of you. We haven’t had any humans visit in quite a while.” In quite a while? So people DID used to come here. That’s making the unnerving feeling rise up again. Something must have happened to make them stop coming. But what could it possibly be? These two are friendly. Is it because they might be the only ones that are friendly? Maybe he’d know. I could ask Hizashi, but something feels like that’s a bad idea.

Mina suddenly pulls out a camera. “You brought a camera?” I asked. “Well, duh! I forgot earlier if I could take pictures of them, but seeing the one even bigger than Hizashi reminded me!” she looks up at Toshinori. “Could we take some pictures to show my other friends?” he perks up at that. “Why, of course! Why not wait until we get to the waterfall? We could do a group one!”

Mina fist-bumps the air. “Yes! In front of the waterfall would be a GREAT view! Let’s go!”

The rest of us told our names to him, well, Eijiro did for Katsuki again, on our way to the waterfall. Hizashi still hasn’t let go of me. Toshinori’s brows seem to crease in worry about that. I pat his tail twice. “Uh… Hizashi? Could you let me go now?” He does reluctantly. Mina giggles again. I decide to ignore it. The waterfall was finally in view, making the others grow more excited. Toshinori was farther ahead with the others.

Now would probably be a good time to ask Toshinori a few things. “Why don’t you go ahead with my friends for a bit? I want to ask Toshinori a few things I’d like him to answer personally if he can.” He almost seems to go on guard after hearing that, but makes himself relax. “What about? Ya gonna talk about me?” He teases.

“No! Of course not! I want to hear the story about that crazy scar on his side.” I lie. The scar might be interesting, but there are more important things at the moment. He seems unsure of my answer, but nods and heads up to lead the way.

“I need to ask you a few things.” He looks down at me. “Is it about my scar?” I shake my head. “No, I want to know if you know why no humans want to come here lately.” He looks at Hizashi, who I can swear started moving more slowly, then back to me. He nods.

“Do you know why humans no longer want to come to the island?” His smile disappears. “To prevent you from being afraid, all I will say is it’s safer for you to leave the island sooner than later.”

My face scrunches up in frustration and confusion. “That doesn’t make sense! Why though? What could be here you guys couldn’t help us from?”

“At least a little more information, dumbass.” Katsuki pipes up from behind me. Toshinori shakes his head and goes back to the others. I look beside me to see Katsuki crossing his arms. “I still don’t trust these overgrown lizards. Especially now.”

“You and I both. Well, I trust they aren’t going to kill us, but I don’t trust they’re not telling us what they should.”

“It’s good we’re staying here two less days.” I look at him confused. “What do you mean?”

“I told them to make it two less days, or when we get back I’d make their lives hell. I wanted to be here the least amount possible.”

“Are you sure they’ll listen? They might leave us here if you threatened them.” He grew a sadistic smirk. “Kyoka is making sure.” I shake my head while smiling at him. “Always the ever-clever one, huh?”

“Someone has to be since you dumbasses sure won’t.” I roll my eyes at him again. “Can’t argue with that.

Nerd.” I take off running to catch up without looking back, afraid of being smacked if caught. “Y/N!!!” He angrily screams, and it’s easy to tell he’s running after me. “Hahahaha!” I ran past Hizashi. His tail slams down between Katsuki and I. “Let’s save rough play for later, yeah?”

I pout. “Aw, Hizashi, you’re no fun!”

He pouts back. “No fun? I’m PLENTY of fun! C’mere!” He wiggles his fingers, signifying what he’s going to do. I shriek and jump away, but with no success since he's faster and uses his tail to get me stuck in place.

“That’s enough Hizashi.” Toshinori harshly says, and takes me out of Hizashi’s grip, keeping his body closer to mine so Hizashi can’t.

The others seem confused by Toshinori’s reaction, but shake it off. Katsuki glares harder at the two nagas. I decide to ignore everything and look at the waterfall. It’s really high up and beautiful. I stop. “Hey, wouldn’t this be a good area for the picture? We could get a large portion of the waterfall in it!”

Mina quickly takes out her camera again from her pocket. “Yes! Let’s do it!” We get situated. Toshinori is on my right with Eijiro and Mina. Katsuki stays close on my left with Hizashi next to him, with Hanta and Denki unnecessarily crouching in front of him and doing the peace sign. Toshinori grabs the camera with his tail and is able to hold it out to hopefully show all of us in it. No doubt Katsuki isn’t going to smile in it.

He took a few, and they all turned out great. We then wander close to the bottom of the waterfall where there’s a rather slow stream that goes half way up my calves. I know since we all took our shoes off and entered the shallow stream with the nagas not too far away just in case. While the others are messing around and throwing water at each other, I saw a really cool looking rock a bit farther in the water. It’s in a bit deeper water though… I could possibly ask someone to help. Nah. I look over to see Hizashi being busy talking with Toshinori. It doesn’t seem too friendly whatever they’re talking about judging by their movements. Katsuki is fairly close to them without them realizing, and he doesn’t seem happy with whatever he’s hearing. His face is crunched even more than usual.

I look down towards the rock again and reach for it. The water goes up past my shoulder, getting my shirt wet. The current in that part is much stronger, almost making me lose my balance. My hand touches it, and I try to bring it up. It’s rather stuck in the ground. I firmly grip it and yank it. It comes free, kicking up a lot of dirt with it. Rinsing it in the water a bit more, it came out clean and was a rather large agate. It’s the size of my palm. A really cool one with multiple lines in it too. I dry it a bit on the bottom of my shorts and put it in my pocket.

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

The day went by rather quickly until we returned to our camp. Toshinori didn’t come with us, much to Mina’s dismay. We definitely got some kind of sunburn today. Denki looks like he’s gotten the worst of it. Katsuki nearly slapped him until I prevented it. I’d rather not hear how loud he can scream in pain.

We didn’t feel like doing stories tonight. “Ugh, after this, I don’t think I’m ever going outside again.” Denki complains. “You will, even if I have to drag you.” Katsuki threatens. “Aw, big old buff boy truly does have a heart for us!” I tease. He harshly slaps my shoulder. “Point taken.” I say in a bit of pain. “You shouldn’t hurt your friends like that.” Hizashi pipes up being next to me on my right. Katsuki ignores him. “Forgot to mention, the boat will be here tomorrow to pick us up.” Hizashi tenses up.

“How do you know that?” Hanta asks. “It’s Katsuki, how else?” I reply. “But we’re having so much fun here! And Hizashi has helped tell me so much about nagas!” Mina whines. “True. well, it was fun while we were here though!” I look at Hizashi. “Thanks for that!” He nods. “Of course!” Something didn’t feel too genuine or enthusiastic with his answer. I heard Hanta snoring. He must have passed out not too long ago.

Eijiro yawns. “Man, today sure was fun though! Hopefully we can come back some day!” Katsuki and I share a look. “Yeah! It’s hard to find a boat to take us though, so it might be a while.” I inform, trying my hardest to not give away that we won’t be coming back.

“Hey, Katsuki, could you bring Hanta to our tent? I can’t carry him.”

“No. The dumbass fell asleep out here, he can stay out here.” Eijiro rolls his eyes at him. “I’ll do it.” He gets up and bridal carries Hanta to the tent with Denki following. Mina goes to ours. Katsuki pulls me close. “Don’t trust that fucking naga. Stay away from him.” He hisses, gets up, and goes to his tent. What was that about? He hasn’t been wrong before though, so it might be best to listen. It stayed silent for a while after Eijiro went to his tent and most likely everyone was asleep.

I put my hands in my pockets and felt the rock. “I want to give you something to remember us by when we leave,” I take out the rock and give it to him. Something glinted in his eyes and he took it and cupped it with both hands like it was the most fragile thing in the world. A feeling is telling me I just made a big mistake. Why though? It’s just a rock? “It’s not much, but maybe you’ll like its memories?”

“I’ll definitely treasure it!” his voice becomes more quiet. “Just like I’ll always treasure you.” He means like everything we’ve done the past two or so days, right?

“Well, goodnight Hizashi!” I say, and go towards Mina and I’s tent. “Could we please do the same thing as last night? As a parting gift or something? It will get so lonely again.” His tone became rather saddened. I almost gave in on pity for him. I remember Katsuki’s words though, and try to think of an excuse. Right! Sunburn! “Sorry Hizashi. I really don’t want to be touched tonight, especially with this sunburn. That will hurt.”

“Maybe the cold of my cave could help with that! Why don’t we try that?” He sounds desperate. Him being desperate sends off another red flag in my head.

“Sorry. I’d rather be alone tonight.” I say and enter my tent, zipping it up.

He must have given up since he goes quiet after that. It doesn’t take long after that for sleep to start to overtake me.

...Did the zipper just open? I was too tired to check. It’s most likely nothing.

#yandere present mic #x reader #yandere present mic x reader #quirkless au #naga present mic #yandere naga present mic

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queen-scribbles · 3 years

Text

The Thing About Darktown

Just gonna post my Secret Santa fic for @jarinodragonage over here, too, now that she’s seen it. ;D

---

“Stop rubbing, you’ll make it worse!”

“It itches!”

“Better that than festering and falling off- Hawke!” Aveline growled in exasperation as the younger woman flinched away, half-done bandages fluttering. “You know, this wouldn’t even be an issue if you’d brought Anders.”

Leigh snorted wryly, rubbing the injury in question with a fervor that hastened the unraveling of the bandages. “There’s a sentence I never thought I’d hear you say.”

“Why not?” Aveline narrowed her eyes and moved after her, cornering Leigh against a boulder and getting a better grip on her arm to redo the patching up that was all but undone now. “Most people would consider it wise to bring a healer if you have one at your disposal. Especially given you usually include him on your... adventures.”

Leigh grinned, hearing the ‘mis’ Aveline clearly wanted to slap in front of the last word. “You’re not enjoying girls’ night out?” she said drolly, waving to where Isabela and Merrill were examining what remained of their foes. “I’m just happy the bad guys are dead and we aren’t.” She grimaced as Aveline pulled the bandages just a little tighter. “Aveline! Are you trying to fix my arm or amputate it?!”

“The former,” Aveline said sternly. “But if the bandages slide, you may wind up needing the latter. There.” She tied off the bandages, tucked the trailing ends under so it wouldn’t snag, and let go of Leigh’s arm. “That should hold you until you can get it seen to, at least.”

“My hero,” Leigh said with a cheeky wink and darted over to help Isabela rifle the corpses for anything good.

“Not leaking any more?” Isabela asked playfully, shifting so Leigh could crouch next to her.

Leigh snorted. “Not for now, at least.” She tested her range of motion and wiggled her fingers. “Kinda stiff, throbs a little, but I can make it back to Kirkwall without drawing down wolves on us in addition to... whatever these gentlemen were supposed to be.” She rolled the body at her feet on its stomach with her good hand and started checking the pouches around the back of the belt. Nothing more valuable than a small collection of pretty pebbles.

“Good to hear,” Isabela laughed. “I’d rather not have anything to do with wolves if we can help it.”

“Oh, but they’re so pretty t’ watch when they hunt,” Merrill piped up, then wrinkled her nose as she processed the context of the remark. “Though they’d be huntin’ us, I suppose, wouldn’t they? Best to avoid that.”

“My thoughts exactly, kitten,” Isabela said with a wink. It only took a few more minutes of searching for her and Leigh to be satisfied they’d found everything of any value. There wasn’t much; this lot were clearly poor and desperate. (Of course, they’d have to be, to attack such a clearly dangerous group as the four of them.) Pretty baubles, a few coppers, and some rusty weapons were the extent of “treasure” they carried. If the poor bastards hadn’t attacked them first, Leigh would have felt bad about killing them. Under the circumstances, however, sympathy was a little hard to come by. She rubbed at the bandages again and pretended she didn’t hear Aveline sigh.

---

To Leigh’s vast relief, they were not hassled by wolves or anything else on their way back to Kirkwall, despite the setting sun and lengthening shadows. Her arm was starting to really ache, and she wasn’t sure how much help she’d be in a fight. Still, she waved off the others’ concern when they reached the city, insisted they go their own ways. “I think I can make it to Anders’ clinic by myself,” she said glibly when Aveline offered to come with her. She turned a grin toward Isabela and Merrill. “Save me a seat when you get to the Hanged Man? I’ll be over when I’m done.”

“You got it, sweet thing,” Isabela laughed, then looped her arm through Merrill’s as they headed for the tavern.

Aveline hesitated a moment longer; until Leigh made a shooing motion toward the Viscount’s Keep. “Go on, Avs, I know walking Darktown is more exciting than all the paperwork sitting on your desk, but I’ll be okay. Promise.”

Aveline shook her head and huffed (yet) another sigh. “Just... be careful, Hawke.”

“The very model of,” Leigh promised with a glib wave. “See you around, guard captain.”

Sh waited until she was well out of sight from all of them before rubbing hard at the bandages again, directly over the stinging gash across her bicep. It itched, worse than well, pretty much anything she could remember.

“Good thing it’s not too far to the clinic,” she muttered, balling her hand into a fist as the wound started to throb more pointedly, keeping time with her heartbeat. “Sooner I take care of this, the better.”

Leigh knew the safest route through Darktown to Anders’ clinic. She also knew the fastest route through Darktown to Anders’ clinic. This injury was enough of an annoyance that today she went for speed over safety. She could handle herself, after all, and was very clearly armed. She doubted anyone would fuck with her in the first place, and she’d deal with them if they did.

Still, she kept her eyes open and on her surroundings as she walked, tried not to let her thoughts wander.

It’s a good thing those were just common bandits, still wormed its way through her brain. Skilled as they all were, she was less accustomed to fighting alongside Aveline, Isabela, and Merrill. They’d lacked the synergy she had gotten used to. There were times it was as if she and Fenris read each others’ minds in a fight, they knew Varric’s rhythm and could avoid being skewered by the bolts meant for their enemies, and Aveline had been correct--it was very useful having a healer along.

She missed a step and almost tumbled. Right. No wandering thoughts, Leigh reprimanded herself as she caught her balance. She’d drawn some attention from a knot of hard-faced individuals with her near-fall, but fortunately her cloak hung over the evidence she was wounded. Still, no reason to linger.

Leigh curled her hand around the hilt of a dagger when one of the loungers kept staring her direction a little too long, but the sense of eyes on her faded when she rounded the next corner, so she relaxed her grip. She kept her pace brisk, and the wariness had faded somewhat by the time she passed the [waste] chute that marked halfway. While she didn’t rub the still-itching wound again, she did press her hand over it and bite her lip. The pressure felt good. She’d have to mention that to Anders, see if it meant anything bad he should know about before healing her up.

It was after the next corner everything went to shit. She rounded it too tightly, and her injured arm rammed against the edge precisely where the two walls met. Leigh let out an instinctual yelp at the burst of pain that flared through her arm and set stars dancing behind her eyes. She gritted her teeth to clamp down on it, but the damage was done.

“Need a hand, lovely?” The speaker, a rangy elf with a shaved head and facial tattoos, leaned against the wall and flashed an indolent grin.

“I’m fine, thanks,” Leigh shot back with a decent tinge of snark. “Just tad clumsy.”

“Sure? Darktown’s no place to be wanderin’ alone.” The contrast of the deep red tattoos curving up his cheekbones made the glint in his eyes seem all the more dangerous. And as he spoke, two other figures--another elven man and a human woman--sidled up with a faux-casual air that had goosebumps prickling Leigh’s arms.

“That’s why I’m trying to get it over with, Red-- Can I call you Red?” she said with a cheeriness she didn’t really feel, sizing them up as she spoke. Red had picked his spot well; even leaning against the wall he was close enough to grab her unless she was very fast. The other elf would be in the way if she went for her original path, and the woman now stood just enough to the side she could back up either of her friends handily.

“Oh, a funny one,” Red chuckled, not deigning to comment on her assigning him a nickname. “Y’know, it might go faster--definitely safer--if you hand Cob there” --a nod toward his fellow elf--”all your coin.”

“It might, huh?” Her arm twinged, and Leigh shifted the odds a few points in their favor. Good thing I tend to beat the odds... “If I had any on me, I’d be sure to share it with such a beleaguered innocent as... Cob.” She arched her brows toward the elf. His scraggly blond hair and jaundiced complexion actually did bear passing resemblance to a corncob. “Sadly, I think I left my coinpurse in my other cloak.”

“Bullshit,” the woman snarled, hand drifting to the short-bladed sword. “Who the fuck travels without any money?”

“Me, the fuck,” Leigh returned brightly, shifting just a little. If she got very lucky and timed it just right, she could probably slip away. “But if you don’t believe me, you can look for yourself.”

Her good hand yanked the clasp of her cloak and pulled it free to toss toward Red and the woman as Leigh lunged low and outside past Cob.

He snagged her elbow and tried to hold her back, but she tore free, stumbled a few steps before catching her balance.

Just in time to trip over the booted foot that appeared in front of her ankles. Leigh cursed under her breath and lurched semi-sideways as she was forced to balance again. Her instincts proved good; a pitted blade swung uncomfortably close to her shoulder. She freed one of her daggers with her good hand and spun to parry the next blow. She was just barely fast enough to redirect it into the moldering wall. Her other fist was already swinging after it, and she connected with the female thug’s cheekbone and sent her reeling into Cob. Pain flared in Leigh’s knuckles and up her arm, but at least she’d gained some breathing room--

The hairs at the nape of her neck prickled. She jerked sideways and there was a frustrated growl as Red’s swing went wide.

“Amber, Cob, get it together and help me gut this bitch!” he barked as he lunged forward in another swipe at Leigh’s midriff. Apparently he’d meant it literally.

The two of them grumbled as they recovered, glaring at her and circling to pen her in.

Leigh fought back a grimace and ran through her options. What few she had.

She feinted left, then went straight, ramming a shoulder into Cob’s chest and her dagger cutting a shallow scarlet line across Amber’s arm. They pivoted after her quickly, but at least she wasn’t pinned against a wall any more.

Red lunged forward, and even as she parried his dagger, he punched the bandaged portion of her arm. Hard.

Leigh spat a curse and slammed her elbow into his jaw. Her dagger slashed across his cheek as she followed through, and she kicked the inside of his knee for good measure.

Three on one meant no respite, however, and even as she spun away from Red, Amber closed in. Leigh ducked under the blow aimed at her head, but wasn’t quite fast enough to avoid the other woman’s buckler. The edge of the small shield caught her in the jaw with a crack.

Leigh ran her tongue over the new cut, tasted copper, and lunged. For Red, not Amber.

None of them were expecting that, and Red’s reflexes were just a little too slow as a result. He didn’t get his blades up in time to parry and Leigh’s dagger sank in the hollow of his collarbone.

He gave an airless gasp, then a wet cough, and dropped.

Crimson flew in an arc from Leigh’s dagger as it came free and she spun to face the other two. Amber and Cob charged her from opposite directions and she backpedaled, angling to the right and pivoting she she could gouge the back of Cob’s thigh as he passed her.

She didn’t cut deep enough to hit anything vital, but he still toppled with a curse. He lashed out and the pommel of his dagger slammed into the side of her knee.

Combined with Leigh’s momentum, it took her down and sent her rolling into the wall. She banged her head hard enough to see stars, and when they cleared, Amber was standing over her, grip tight on her sword and a sneer curling her lips

She raised the blade even as Leigh scrambled mentally for an out. “You could’ve avoided this if you’d just done as you were tol-”

The gloating words cut off, her shoulders jerking forward as the front six inches of a greatsword emerged from her chest.

“She’s never been good at that,” Fenris said dryly as he pulled his sword free, gaze shifting from the slain thug to Leigh, concern and amusement mingled in his eyes. “despite ample evidence it is not always a bad thing.”

“What can I say, I’m a rebel,” Leigh returned glibly, pushing herself up to a sitting position and leaning her head back against the wall. “Not that I’m unhappy to see you, Fenris, but where the fuck did you come from?”

He chuckled and let his sword hang loosely in one hand as he offered her the other. “The Hanged Man. I was meeting Donnic for drinks, but Isabela mentioned you’d been injured-”

“And you wanted to check on me?” Leigh teased, grinning playfully as she took his hand. “I’m touched.”

Fenris snorted and hauled her up, so fast it almost felt like flying. “I figured you would head for the clinic,” he corrected. He maintained a steadying grip on her forearm when she wobbled. “I wanted to ensure your safe arrival, knowing what Darktown is like.” He punctuated the words with a glare at Cob.

“My hero,” Leigh said, with a little more sincerity than when she’d tossed the same words at Aveline. “Normally I’d protest I’m a big girl and can handle myself, but today I think I’ll go with ‘thanks for the rescue’.”

Fenris nodded, then tipped his head toward Cob, who now sat glaring up at them with a hand pressed to the back of his thigh. “And what of him?”

Leigh shrugged, not liking the soreness already settling in her muscles. I really need to see Anders. “Eh, just leave him be.”

“What?!” Cob barked. “You kill my friends, cripple me, and you’re just going to leave?!”

“Hey, you lot attacked me, asshole,” Leigh fired back, grasping Fenris’ arm to hold him back when his markings flickered and he tensed. “After I tried to avoid a fight. You’re lucky I’m not askin’ him to finish you off. My cloak’s somewhere around here; you can have that to patch yourself up. But I need to be on my way. After all, it’s not safe to linger in Darktown.”

She went to make a dramatic exit, and her knee almost gave out. Fenris caught her, pulled her back upright, and only paused to sheath his sword before draping her arm around his shoulders for support.

“Thanks,” Leigh whispered, limping heavily as they walked away.

“You are most welcome,” Fenris replied, in that soft, low murmur that sent warmth curling all the way to her toes. “Let’s get you to Anders.”

---

The rest of the walk was uneventful, which Leigh credited to the protective air radiating from Fenris. Anders was, thankfully, not busy when they arrived and immediately turned his attention to fussing over her. He and Fenris exchanged the occasional sniping remark, as the latter insisted on ‘hovering’ nearby, no doubt concerned about the fresh blood seeping through Leigh’s bandages.

The battering from her alley scuffle was easily healed--and she did mention Cob to Anders, just in case he’d feel inclined to help the man. But Anders frowned when he unwrapped the bandages around her arm. “Hawke, this is from today?”

“Just a couple hours ago,” Leigh nodded. “We were already on our way back to the city, and I headed here soon as we made it. Why-” She turned to look and grimaced at the angry red edges to the wound. “Oh.”

“It’s good you came straight here,” Anders said, then glanced at Fenris. “Well, nearly. There must’ve been something on the blade, deliberately or not.” He murmured a quiet spell, fingers tracing through the air before he laid his hand over the wound.

The spell rolled through her with a cleansing prickle that gave her goosebumps for a minute before fading. But the near-insufferable itching was gone. Anders’ hand flexed again, and healing magic chased the cleansing spell to knit flesh back together.

Leigh’s slumped with relief. “Thanks, handsome,” she winked as she gave that shoulder an experimental roll. “Much better.” All better, there wasn’t even a scar.

“Always happy to help,” Anders said with a tired smile. “Your knee might still be sore,” he cautioned as she started to stand. “You might want to take it easy for a day or two.”

“I will accompany you,” Fenris offered, soon as she’d made it to her feet. “To be safe, of course.”

“Of course,” Leigh chuckled. Her knee seemed alright, but she’d never pass up his company. She thanked Anders again, then she and Fenris headed out.

“Hawke, it’s this way,” Fenris commented when she walked past the turn that would lead back to Hightown.

“I’m going to the Hanged Man, not home,” Leigh said with a smile and a shrug. “Promised I’d join ‘Bela and Merrill. And I can take it easy there just as well as at home.” Better; at the Hanged Man she’d be around people. Friends.

His shoulders tensed, and she could almost see his overprotective instincts winding up, before he relaxed and nodded. “I shall accompany you there, then, instead.”

Leigh snickered. “That worried about me tumbling in a ditch somewhere, are you?”

“There are plenty to choose from in this city,” Fenris deadpanned. “Or perhaps I wish to offer back up in case anyone is fool enough to attack you.”

“Oh, thank you. Whatever the reason, I’ll happily take your company.”

She hadn’t really meant to say it, no matter how glib her tone,and he clearly didn’t know how to reply, so they walked in almost-awkward silence for a minute.

“So, how many poor sods did you inadvertently terrorize on your way down through Darktown?” Leigh finally asked, playfully nudging his shoulder, before the silence became too much.

“I... do not know,” Fenris admitted. He glanced at her. “I was too preoccupied to notice.”

Oh. She bit her lip and cleared her throat. “Bet you get turned into a phantom in children’s stories now,” she teased, struggling to make the words light-hearted. “You know, the ghost who’ll snatch them away if they get out of bed in the middle of the night.”

“Just what I’ve always wanted,” he said dryly, and Leigh couldn’t help but snort a laugh.

“It would fit, though,” she said, flashing a mischievous grin. “You glow, you... pass through things--or people, at least.. Practically writes itself. I should tell Varric.”

Fenris groaned, but there was something half-hearted about it, and she caught the smile he tried to hide. “I’m certain he has better things to do.”

“Better, maybe. But not more fun.”

Their easy pace during the conversation had carried them to within a stone’s throw of the tavern, and Leigh paused, turning to rest a hand on Fenris’ arm. “All joking aside, I am truly grateful you came swooping to my rescue.”

Fenris caught her gaze and held it as he took a breath, then slowly exhaled. “Anytime, Leigh.”

He leaned ever so slightly into her touch, then stepped away and headed inside the Hanged Man. Leigh’s hand curled into a loose fist, and she closed her eyes to take a deep breath before trailing after him.

Isabela and Merrill greeted her cheerfully, and Leigh was all too happy to let their company and the general tavern cacophony distract her from... anything else.

(She caught a glimpse of silver-white hair across the bustling space and hastily focused back on Isabela’s challenge to a hand of Wicked Grace.)

Anyone else.

#queens fic #fenhawke #leigh hawke/fenris #da2 #jarino dragonage

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mwolf0epsilon · 4 years

Note

PROMPT TIME BABE. Give us some WereNorman being assisted by Sammy and Abby in escaping captivity in big wolf form. Who then takes them away to his pack to meet and get Sammy red as the wolf turns back to a hot man.

This took an unexpected turn, so it's not exactly what you asked. Still good I promise!

Summary: Sammy was pretty sure this was a fairytale in the making. He'd always dreamt of moving to the city and starting a career as a prestigious musician, adored by all for his magnificent compositions, far away from his father's cattle ranch and especially from the reach of his witch of a step-mother. Usually though, fairytales tended to send a fairy godmother to one's aid, not an intelligent and positively massive wolf...

---

[[MORE]]

There was a part of Samuel Lawrence Jr that felt like he'd missed out on something very big. An opportunity to achieve more, rather than end up where he was now. Still living in the ranch he'd called a home since birth. Granted his little family had changed after his mother's passing, his father welcoming another woman into his life and both baring a little sister that Sammy often looked after himself.

It wasn't too bad of a life. He worked hard and got to reap the fruits of his labour without much hassle, but it felt... Incomplete. Like he could be more than another simple farmer.

He could have been great.

"I think you're bored of it all." Abigail once said, as both sat by this one big and very old tree that he'd play his banjo under, after escaping the scrutiny of his parents. His little sanctuary of sorts, in the form of a dried up husk home to god only knew what critters. "You're an adult now, and you've never really got to go farther than the town nearby."

"Not for a lack of trying..." he sighed. He'd wanted to leave many times, but there was always an excuse keeping him tied. His father's age, the need to keep the ranch in good condition, his step-mother's discouraging and downright abusive insults... He couldn't leave as he pleased. He was bound by duty.

"Maybe one day you'll get your lucky break." She offered one of her sweet little smiles, the ones that tried to offer him her unending optimism. "Maybe we both will... The ranch is beautiful and all, but I'd like to see the world and make friends."

They couldn't have imagined that their lucky break was indeed just over the horizon. Nearing with each nightfall and each changing phase of the moon. Until one night, it finally presented itself.

Sammy jolted out of bed when he heard gunshots. The moon was at its fullest and brightest, and he cursed as the light stung his eyes ever so slightly. He'd left his window open to let in the cool breeze, since his room often got stuffy.

Pulling on his coat and boots, the blond rushed downstairs and grabbed his gun, wondering if someone had come back to steal more chickens like in the last few months. His father had sworn he'd shoot dead whichever son of a bitch tried to mess with his coops again.

To Sammy's surprise the gunshots stopped as quickly as they began, and he found Samuel Sr barricading the barn from outside.

"What's going on?" He asked, noticing that Abigail had come to investigate the ruckus, while her mother watched from the window.

"A wolf. A whole mountain of a fucking beast was stealing the hens!" Their father hissed as he made sure the lock was in place. "Need my bigger gun. Fucker ain't leaving my farm with his life!"

He ran back inside, presumably to look for his bigger gun. The one he kept in a safe in his room for reasons Sammy never quite understood. His step-mother retreated from the window, closing the shutters with a slam. Leaving Sammy and Abby alone to look at each other.

"... We're not just letting dad kill a wolf, right?" The girl asked, looking mildly put off.

"I mean... It was stealing chickens." He shrugged. He was pretty sure it wasn't illegal to kill wolves, even if they were becoming a bit of a rare sight these days.

"It was probably just hungry! We can't punish an animal for doing what it has to survive!" Abigail pouted. "It's like if dad shot me for eating all the chocolate spread."

"It's not the same, and I knew you'd done it you little scamp!" He glared slightly in annoyance before shaking his head. "What do you propose? That we break a window in the back and just let it run free?"

"Yes! That's a great idea! Maybe it won't come back after such a fright." Abigail smiled brightly at him and Sammy had a feeling her optimism knew as much sanity as it knew an end. This was a crazy idea.

"Abby..."

"Please Sammy...?" She looked at him pleadingly. How could he resist that face?

So here he was, at the back of the barn pushing over a stack of hay that obscured one of the larger windows.

"This better be worth it and the mutt better have some sense and run off..." Not a minute after, something truly massive jumped out of the now open window and stared at both of them. It was a tremendously large black wolf, as black as tar, with coarse fur and a single yellow eye. Sammy's blood ran cold once he realized that from sheer size and muscle it could easily overpower the big old ornery bull his father used to breed his cows.

Instead of displaying any form of aggression however, the beast stared at them both, nodded its head in a rather human fashion, and offered them a paw (which Sammy noted looked disturbingly humanoid in its shape).

"I..."

"He's offering to shake...?" Abigail was just as confused by the creature's behaviour. "I think... I think it would be rude not to accept?"

"Well... I... Sure, this might as well happen." He took the offered paw. Next thing he knew, both he and Abigal were being carried away by a bipedal thing that looked like a wolf, but sure as hell didn't act like one.

Sammy was pretty sure this was a fairytale in the making. He'd always dreamt of moving to the city and starting a career as a prestigious musician, adored by all for his magnificent compositions, far away from his father's cattle ranch and especially from the reach of his witch of a step-mother. Usually though, fairytales tended to send a fairy godmother to one's aid, not an intelligent and positively massive wolf...

Said creature ran pretty quickly on its hind legs while carrying a young adult and a teenager. Both who were too stunned to even make a peep.

They weren't even sure where they were, since they'd never really ventured so far into the woods before.

After what seemed like an eternity, they stopped by a tree stump. The wolf set them down and stretched, before motioning for them to stay put and going towards a small pond to take a drink.

".... Abigail?"

"Yes?"

"I'm never relenting to any of your requests ever again..."

"That's fair."

The wolf returned, tail wagging like a pleased dog. It appeared to be gesturing strangely at them, which left both scratching their heads in confusion. Noticing their looks, the wolf smacked its own muzzle and then proceeded to write in the dirt with it's big dirty claws.

'Thank you kindly, you folks saved my hide.'

"Oh my god it can write..." Sammy put his face in his hands. The absurdity of it all was making him feel hysterical.

The wolf wrote once more.

'Of course I can write. You never seen a werewolf before?'

"A werewolf!" Abigail gawked "I thought those weren't real..."

"They're not. I probably just hit my head and am hallucinating all of this..." He yelled once she'd pinched him. The wolf was still there and staring at him with what appeared to be an unamused look on its face. "Or maybe not..."

'You done?' it wrote, sounding quite sassy without even needing to vocalize it. 'As I was saying, you folks saved my hide, so I'm in your debt.'

"Debt? What do you mean...? Like, a favour for a favour?" Abigail frowned "We were just doing what was right, even though you were kind of stealing from us."

'Which is why I'm in your debt. I wronged you, but you still chose to be merciful. As such I'm offering you both my services.' the wolf bowed, and the two noted the pale spot on its chest just below its neck that made it look like it was wearing some sort of cravat. 'If you graciously accept, I will consult with my pack so as to request some leave for a while until I repay you in kind.'

"Is any of this necessary?" Sammy gulped. Having an intelligent wolf working for them felt a little odd.

'Very. It's the proper etiquette for us wolves. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. Be it in the good or bad sense.' the wolf bowed again. 'I was raised properly, unlike some of the other brutes that call themselves real wolves... A bunch of fools is what they are. Getting shot at and giving us all a bad name.'

Ironic considering he'd been stealing from a ranch and got shot at himself.

"I think it'd be rude not to accept such an offer." Abby finally said.

"Abigail!"

"Sammy, this is what we've been waiting for! If he can help us get to the big city, we could really start our lives!" The girl insisted. "Don't you want to be happy?"

'The big city uh? I got a home in New York, I could definitely show you kind folk around.'

"How does a wolf get a house in New York City?!" Sammy was a little incredulous at the claim.

'I'm only a wolf once a month, that's how. The commute to these parts is hell with how traffic is like there. Takes about three days to get here, and I usually spend the end of the month with my pack.' the wolf huffed 'Which is why I'm consulting with them if you accept. Deal, or no deal?'

Abigail stared at her brother pleadingly, and even the wolf's gaze was glued to him. Sammy didn't see a way out of this, and then again did he really want to?

"Fine, but we need to pack up..."

"Great!"

'Excellent, sun will be up in a few. I'll take you back to your home and meet with you in the morning. Keep a look out for a Norman Polk.'

And so it was.

The wolf snuck them back to the ranch, where they packed up their things as their father searched frantically for the escaped wolf. Once they were done, Abigail snuck their bags to the big tree they hung out by, and both sought out their father, explaining the beast had fled and they'd tried to chase it to no avail.

In the morning they are breakfast as usual, got washed up and dressed, then waited.

Near sundown, a tall and rather handsome man with only one eye approached them.

"Norman Polk?" Sammy asked.

"In the human meatsuit." The man bowed, grinning rather wolfishly. "Yous ready to depart?"

"Yes." Both replied giddily.

"Great. Let's get goin', before your crazy pa comes out with that bigass gun o' his..."

This really was like a fairytale. Where they got their happy ending thanks to a kindly entity that respected the olden rules of equivalent exchange.

Except instead of a fairy godmother, Sammy and Abby ended up with a werewolf indebted to them. A new start seemed like fair enough of an arrangement to repay them fully.

#Eps Writes:#Bendy and the Ink Machine #BATIM #Sammy Lawrence #Norman Polk

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itsallavengers · 7 years

Text

(Mis)adventures of Cop!Tony & Thief!Steve

The police officer was almost bent double, regarding the picked lock and open safe as if it was having a conversation with him. There was no-one else in the room; the resident of the home had long since left the place- too upset to stay. They had just been burgled, after all.

“Safe appears to have been forced open,” the cop spoke into his walkie-talkie that was almost certainly not actually transmitting to anyone in particular, “no fingerprints or evidence of any sort, except for a footprint left by a size twelve foot. Probably looking for a tall man in the late thirties-”

“You’re looking for Rogers,” Tony said with a sigh, pushing open the door and regarding the scene of the crime with a raised eyebrow, “and no- he’s none of those things. He only puts the footprint down to fuck with you- thinks it’s funny, the little prick.”

The police officer- some recruit they’d hired a few weeks back that Tony couldn’t remember the name of- stared at him in surprise. “I- what are you doing here? And how the hell do you know that? This is a fresh crime and you just walked in.”

Tony kneaded his forehead and sighed. He was always sighing, these days. He was pretty sure exhalations had increased by at least 54% in the past year since Stupid Steve had arrived on the scene. “Because the perpetrator just sent me a selfie of him with the stolen item.”

The rookie gasped, stepping forward immediately. “You’re in contact with the perp?” He asked.

Tony just rolled his eyes, stepping forward and peering into the safe, checking the locks. Yep- that was definitely Steve’s style- he could fucking smell the guy on a crime scene at this point. “If I did- you think I’d be here? He sent it on a burner- been doing it for months now, every single time he makes a case. Is the home owner still here?”

The rookie stumbled a little, trying to process the surge of information. “I… so you’re saying a dangerous criminal has managed to obtain your number? Are you- are we safe?”

“He’s not-” Tony stopped, and pointedly did not sigh this time, “he’s not dangerous. Just an asshole.”

Yeah. Asshole indeed. Ever since the beginning of the year the guy had been making it his personal goal to try and annoy and irritate Tony as much as possible. 29 cases- all unsolved, all involving cat-burglary, theft, extortion or blackmail, and most importantly, all involving Steve Fucking Rogers.

Asshole.

“Anyway,” Tony said, shaking his head and trying not to think about the mountain of paperwork that skinny law-dodging son of a bitch was going to have made for him that evening, “are the owners still here?”

“Can I see the picture?” Rookie asked, puffing his chest, “for evidence, you know.”

“No no no no, me first, then you,” Tony pointed to himself and clicked his tongue irritably. He was not in a good enough mood to be dealing with Rookies who wanted him to do perfectly reasonable things. “Are the owners still in the damn house?”

Rookie looked a little taken aback, but he shook his head. “Guy said he was too spooked to stay. Took an early vacation for a little while.”

Okay. See, now Tony was going to sigh again, dammit- next time he was going to catch Steve Rogers and make sure he never caused Tony any fucking hassle again- just see if he fucking didn’t. “Don’t they teach you kids about letting suspects just wander off? I’m sure they teach that. If they don’t, I suggest you learn it.”

Tony pulled a disc out of his folder and shoved it at the guy’s chest before turning on his heel. “That’s what was in the safe,” he said, waving a hand, “don’t watch it. It’s a ton of child porn.”

The Rookie reeled back in horror. “But- but- this house belongs to the mayor of the-”

“I’m aware,” Tony said dryly, “but not for much longer, if I can get ahold of him. I do have a nice pair of cuffs that would go well with his eyes, though. Any idea where he was headed?”

Rookie shook his head, and then looked back down at the disc. “How the fuck did you get this?” He asked, before catching on a second later and widening his eyes. “Did- the perp gave this to you, too?”

Well, see, that just made Tony sound like a bad cop. He wasn’t a bad cop. He was one of the fucking best cops in New York. Just so happened that Rogers was a really, really good crook.

“It was in my mail this morning,” Tony bit out, “crime happened, what, 8 hours ago? Mail arrived 40 minutes ago, with that.”

He left out the letter Rogers had sent along with it- that one was still tucked away in his pocket, the string of numbers and the’call me if you fancy a real challenge ;) x’ still replaying in his mind like a broken record.

Stupid criminal. Stupid Criminal Steve who was just getting cocky, that’s all he was.

“Go back to the precinct, kid,” Tony ran a hand through his hair, feeling the too-long strands and wondering when he was gonna have the time to cut it after all the goddamn paperwork he was going to have to fill out, “you’re not gonna get anything else from this. I’ll make the arrest- he won’t have gotten far.”

“Who- Rogers?”

“No, the fucking Mayor who owns a shit-ton of child porn,” Tony snapped, “Rogers is none of your concern, just forget about him. He’s my criminal, alright, and I’ll deal with him.”

With that, he turned on his heel and walked back to his car. A long drive across the tri-state area was really not something he fancied at that moment, but hey- at least it would be another bad guy down.

He supposed he could thank Rogers for that much, at least. And… maybe a few of the others, too. Okay, maybe all 29 others. But whatever. Still a criminal.

He built up a sigh in his lungs, readying to release it once he slid into the driver’s seat, but the air was promptly removed from his chest when he noticed that the backseat of the car had somehow become occupied in the space it had taken for Tony to go in an patronise the rookie. Which was very odd, and definitely a sign of something. Possibly dangerous, but somehow, Tony doubted it.

He stopped, glaring through the window and to the thoroughly tied and gagged mayor, now sporting the word ‘SCUM’ written across his forehead in what appeared to be permanent marker.

“I hate you,” Tony declared to the empty street, folding his arms, “I really, really do.”

“You were being slow,” Steve shrugged, popping up from the other side of the car, his blonde hair flopping over his eyes for a second before he tucked it away behind his ears, “and I had a free morning. Thought I’d save you the journey.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t appreciate it,” Tony said grumpily, “I should just shoot you in the knee and bring you in, you know. You’re a menace to society and I would be fired on the spot if they knew that I was stood here talking to you rather than arresting your ass.”

Steve laughed. “By all means, do your worst. I’d like to see how that would go down.”

Tony, unsurprisingly, did not. He’d seen what Steve could do- knew how slippery the bastard was. Quite frankly, he’d rather just save himself the embarrassment. “I should still shoot you.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “You enjoy my company too much to do that.”

“Want a fucking bet, Rogers?”

“I bet my left kneecap.”

Tony pulled out his gun with brisk and brutal efficiency, but Steve just laughed.

Bastard.

“So- you get my letter?” Steve leaned across the side of the car, linking his fingers together and looking up toward Tony, who folded his arms defiantly, “what do you think? I’m always available for consulting- love to lend a hand when the cops can’t quite do it themselves. Or, you know, it could just be you and me. I’d prefer that, to be honest, and I’m not wrong when I say it would certainly be an exciting challenge-”

“You have the right to remain silent,” Tony interrupted him with stubbornly, starting to walk around to the other side of the car whilst Steve just chuckled and backed up, “anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law-”

“Aw, shucks, Tony, I thought I was getting myself a date, not an arrest,” Steve shook his head, but he was still smiling as he drew up his hood.

“You have the right to an attorney,” Tony called out, beginning to speed up as Steve started jogging backwards, “If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be-”

At that moment, Steve pressed a button in his hand- Tony’s fucking car keys- and unlocked the doors of his car. The guy in the back, seeing this development, wasted no time in starting to scramble out, falling on the street and onto all fours. “Me or him, Tony!” Steve called out in glee, tossing over the keys as he continued to jog away.

Tony turned in surprise, looking over to the man as he stumbled down he street. When he turned back, the skinny blond was nowhere to be seen. Fucking Rogers- he’d been trying to for a god damn year now and the little bastard was still slipping through his fucking fingers each time.

“-Provided for you DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE RIGHTS I HAVE JUST READ YOU!” Tony yelled, kicking a can in the middle of the road and then groaning irritably.

It was only eight in the fucking morning, and he was already yelling at nobody in the middle of the street. He should have just become a fucking game designer. That sounded nice. Hassle free. No deceptively beautiful perps with infuriating tendencies to disappear into thin air in that line of work.

Grinding his teeth, he marched after the mayor and grabbed him back by the ties Steve had made around his wrists. A knee to the back of his leg and then Tony was repeating the same Miranda Rights all over again whilst the other 99% of his brain thought pleasantly about the next gallon of coffee he was about to pour directly into his central nervous system.

“I like it longer,” and then a hand brushed through his hair, soft and delicate and with bony fingers that made the top of his head feel tingly and warm.

Tony’s head jerked up, and he caught sight of Steve as he ran down the street, having stopped only to ruffle Tony’s hair before moving on again. He’d put a hand out to catch the wrist instinctively, but of course, by that point Steve was long gone.

The other man made a phone gesture and winked, before slipping around the corner again. Tony just watched him, hands still gripping on to the perp.

His hair felt warm. Maybe it wasn’t so bad a little longer, after all.

He groaned, but couldn’t help the tiny (teeny tiny- barely even there, really) laugh that escaped him.

Fucking Rogers.

#im a sucker for reversing their roles and switching it up a lil. even if i barely do it. but i like this! it;s cute #stevetony #tony stark #steve rogers #itsallavengers writes #avengers #marvel #cop au #idk should i continue this? lowkey want to #lowkey highkey want to #but highkey highkey want to finish alll my other wips too u feek

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thedeliverygod · 7 years

Text

Good Enough

yatori college AU

chapter 16/?

AO3|ff.net

“Why don’t you shop at the place you work at?” Hiyori asked curiously as she dropped the handful of produce into the basket dangling from Yato’s arm.

“I’m too tired by the end of work to do the shopping, much less carry it all the way home. And it’s too out of the way compared to this place.” He answered in a groan, taking a few steps before grabbing something else off of a shelf and dropping it in the basket, “The discount doesn’t make it worth the hassle. Besides, we only need a few things.”

She hummed in response as she followed after him, “Ah, I see.”

Looking back over his shoulder, he added with a small grin, “Besides, we’re trying to make this quick. If I took you to where I work, then I’d have to introduce you to everybody and yeah… we’d be there for the rest of the night.”

“O-oh, gotcha.” She gave a sheepish smile in return, her face flushing, “You’re really close with everyone there, then?”

Yato shrugged, “Yes and no. It’s more like no one believes I actually have a girlfriend, they’re convinced you’re not real. Mostly Tomone—I mean Mayu, the other assistant manager.” After Hiyori tilted her head in confusion at the name switch, he laughed and explained, “When I first started, I thought her name was Tomone for some reason and I’ve kinda continued to call her that even though I know it’s not. And I may or may not go out of my way to annoy her in other ways as well.”

“Jeez.” She reached up to touch her forehead, “Well, no wonder she thinks something like that.”

“Hiyoriiii, but you don’t even know what it’s like at work.” He bumped into her shoulder with a whine, “She picks on me, so it’s only fair she gets a taste of her own medicine.”

“Sure, sure.” She nodded before leading them forward, “C’mon, if we’ve got everything, we should go ahead and check out. Yukine-kun is probably home by now.”

Nodding as well and adjusting the basket on his arm, Yato followed her through the aisles and into the checkout lane. After everything had been paid for and loaded into bags, he and Hiyori both loaded up their arms and started out the door.

However, they didn’t get very far before they heard a sharp voice, “Yato.”

His head snapped around immediately, a shocked expression on his face, and Hiyori followed in curiosity. As she spun, she spotted a woman with gorgeous blonde hair that extended almost to the back of her knees, accompanied by a man of about the same build as Yato with short brunette hair and glasses. The blonde woman had her violet eyes squinted into a harsh glare at Yato while the man looked on at them with a nervous smile.

“Ah, if it isn’t the skank and Kazuma.” She heard Yato comment from her side, his voice a mixture of amused and nervous.

Hearing the word skank, her eyes immediately moved over to Yato in a questioning stare, though she didn’t have much time to scold him before the other man responded.

“Yato, nice to see you too.” He seemed to genuinely mean it, his smile growing a bit, though the woman scowled even more and let out a noise of annoyance at Kazuma’s kind reply.

Though he ignored the hostility pointed in his direction, Yato’s face showed a bit of uncertainty, “So what brings you on this side of town?”

“What’s it matter to you?” The blonde woman put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

Yato rolled his eyes dramatically, “Just asking a question.”

“Just talking a walk around the city, doing a little bit of shopping. This and that.” Kazuma answered instead, looking past Yato and at Hiyori, “And who’s this?”

Though Yato started to part his lips to introduce her, she interrupted and did it herself, “I’m Iki Hiyori, nice to meet you.” More timidly, she added, “I’m Yato’s girlfriend.”

“Ah, nice to meet you Iki-san. I’m Takimoto Kazuma.”

“Koizumi Bishamon.” She seemed to look her over with a look of pity, “Good luck with that one.”

Hiyori’s stomach dropped and her eyes widened at the name Bishamon, realizing that this was the Bisha that Kofuku had talked about. ‘Yato’s ex-girlfriend from high school…’

She was definitely beautiful, that was for sure; not to mention a few inches taller than her and her body was definitely more curvaceous as well. ‘Then again, it’s been a few years…’ Hiyori thought to herself, but it didn’t stop her from continue to make the comparisons between them.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Yato shifted his weight, adjusting the groceries on his arm.

Looking back at Yato, Bishamon retorted, “I’m completely serious.”

Kazuma laughed nervously and took a step between them, “So how did you and Iki-san meet?”

“Oh, uh,” He blinked and his face relaxed a bit, now seeming a bit sheepish, “We were friends when we were kids and we ran into each other again a while ago. She’s been tutoring Yukine as well.”

His eyebrows raised in interest, “Oh, that’s certainly quite a unique story. How is Yukine doing?”

“He had kind of a hard time at first with moving here, but he’s doing better now.” Yato answered honestly, “Wish he could see that Suzuha kid more often but can’t do much about it.” Locking his eyes with Kazuma, he added, “But you know, I’m sure he’d be happy if you showed your face every once in a while too.”

“A-ah, yes, I’m sorry about that.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “It’s just been very busy since it’s my last year at university and with this internship I’m doing right now—”

“I know, I know.” Yato waved him off, “Still, with as many parties as Kofuku and Daikoku throw, I’m sure you can make time to show up at one of them at some point.”

Kazuma nodded, “I’ll definitely try. Well, speaking of, I suppose we should let you get home. It was nice to see you, Yato. Goodbye, Iki-san. Again, it was nice to meet you.” He gave a small wave before motioning Bishamon forward. She gave a small nod to them before Kazuma guided her past them and continued down the street.

“Yeah, see ya.” Yato looked over his shoulder.

After a moment of hesitation, Hiyori also added, “Goodbye, it was nice to meet you too!”

Letting out a breath, he commented, “Well, definitely didn’t expect that…”

As he started walking again, Hiyori followed after him and laughed nervously, “Y-yeah, it was definitely interesting…” Clearing her throat, she added quietly, “Bishamon-san definitely seemed to have a pretty strong distaste for you.” After a small pause, she added, “Kofuku-san mentioned her to me a tiny bit.”

“Of course she did.” He forced a laugh, “So you know she’s an ex, then.” Humming a bit, he corrected, “I guess I should say the ex, considering she’s the only one.”

“Y-yeah.” She nodded.

“We were never that great of a match to begin with and it didn’t last very long.” He explained as they walked, quickly adding, “Not that Bishamon is a bad person—she’s really not. Even now, if I needed her help with something, she’d still be there, believe it or not. But we just always managed to get on each other’s nerves over every little thing to the point it just wasn’t even worth it.”

Shrugging his shoulders, he continued, “It was high school and we were dumb and weren’t really thinking about the long term. To be honest it was kind more about the physical—” He froze and looked back to her with wide eyes, his cheeks quickly gaining color, “…stuff… Shit. Sorry.”

Her stomach did a bit of a flip flop again, her mind going back to the comparisons she had been making earlier, “I—it’s okay.”

“Uh, ah, need to talk about that sort of stuff more in detail eventually, I guess. I didn’t mean for it to come out so casually though, it’s just too easy talking with you, I guess.” Yato looked down at his feet, “And on that note, if you were wondering from anything I just said or anything Kofuku said… I don’t want to mess this up.”

“So you mean you do want this to last long term.” Hiyori replied, her nervousness still building inside her chest but now gaining a warm feeling.

He looked back to her in disbelief, “Of course. Don’t you?”

As she met his eyes, she laughed and grinned widely, answering simply, “Yes.”

“Jeez, don’t scare me like that.” Yato shook his head and let out a laugh as well, causing her to laugh more.

“Sorry.” She followed him up the stairs of his apartment building.

Once they’d gotten up to his floor, Yato knocked loudly on the door, “Yukine! You home yet?” They waited for a few seconds before they could hear him from inside.

“Yeah, hold on!” After a few moments, he swung the door open and looked to the grocery bags in both of their arms, “I was wondering where you guys were.”

“Getting dinner for you.” Yato answered as they both stepped in and Yukine started to take some of the groceries from his arms.

Giving him a narrow stare, he answered, “You say that as if you won’t be eating it.”

“Of course, but the main focus is to provide nutrition for my wonderful kid.” He took a step up onto the raised floor and tousled Yukine’s hair as he passed him.

The younger boy rolled his eyes before following after him, though he only let out a small noise in response, “Tch.”

As she followed after them, she heard Yato call out, “So, Yukine, we actually ended up bumping into Kazuma on the way out…”

“Oh, Kazuma-san, really?” She heard him ask excitedly in response, “What’s he been up to?”

“Busy as always. Mentioned an internship and how it’s his last year of school, blah blah.” She lowered the bags that she had down onto the kitchen counter as she watched Yato start to put some things away, “We didn’t get to talk very long since the psycho bitch was there.”

“Yato.” Hiyori’s mouth dropped and both of them gave her confused looks in response.

“What?” He blinked before realizing, “Oh.”

Yukine waved her off, “It’s nothing I haven’t heard before, Hiyori.”

Letting out a breath of air, she commented tiredly, “I don’t know if that makes me feel better or not.”

“A-anyway,” He continued with a nervous laugh, “Good for Kazuma-san. It would be nice to see him, though.”

Yato returned to the groceries, reaching up into a cabinet, “Yeah, I told him that. He said he’d try, but we’ll see how that goes.”

“Yeah.” Yukine nodded quietly before reaching into one of the bags that had yet to be touched.

“So, um….” Hiyori fiddled with the edge of the counter, “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the story with both of you and Kazuma-san? You seem to really look up to him, Yukine-kun.”

Yukine nodded and smiled, “He tutored me a bit, too, actually. Also he sort of helped convinced me that Yato wasn’t as helpless and self-absorbed as he seemed and that I should give him a chance.”

“Hey.” He pouted at Yukine’s jab before looking back over to Hiyori, “Guess Kofuku didn’t tell you everything, then.”

She shook her head and answered timidly, “No, she didn’t say much at all. She just only said that Bishamon-san was the only one who you’d ever really brought over to their house aside from me and that despite the fact you didn’t really get along anymore, you still saw each other because you were friends with Kazuma-san.”

“Ah,” He rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, Kazuma was just a classmate and we were sort of acquaintances. Talked a bit here and there, but weren’t really close. I met him through Bishamon because they’ve been friends forever and he sort of followed her around like a lost puppy. Anyway, not long after we called a quits with the relationship, it became pretty clear to me that Kazuma wanted to be more than just friends with her but didn’t really know how to go about taking that step, yadda yadda. Told him repeatedly that I was literally the worst person to give advice when it came to anything like that but since I had technically dated Bishamon, he thought I was the perfect person to talk to about it.”

Looking down in a mutter, he commented, “Really, the only thing we had in common between us was our shitty pasts but… anyway. Somehow it worked out, Kazuma goes on and on about how he’s indebted to me. I don’t really think much of it until this kid comes into my life,” He waved his arm towards Yukine, “And I know absolutely nothing about how to go about adopting a teenager, so I naturally called up the smart guy who says he’s indebted to me. We both had to do a lot of research, but he really helped me through all that legal stuff while Daikoku and Kofuku helped me with the living situation, so yeah.” He gave a small shrug of his shoulders, “I guess you could say we’re kinda close now. But we’d be a hell of a lot closer if I ever saw the guy.” He finished with an annoyed huff.

“I—I’m sure he does the best he can, from the sound of it.” She laughed nervously, “But wow, Yato. For saying you’re not that great with people, you sure seem to have quite a few really great friends.” She bumped into his side playfully, “Even if you don’t see them very often.”

He looked up at the ceiling, seemingly racking his brain for something, “I—uh, yeah , I guess so…”

“You’re the one who always says you don’t need a ton of friends, just one will do.” Yukine chimed in with a small grin, “Maybe you should take your own advice.”

Yato sighed and gave a small smile in return, admitting defeat, “I guess… sometimes I just think I’m more of a burden then a friend? Someone that they all help just because I usually avoid asking anyone for anything until it’s to the point where it can’t be avoided anymore?” He gave another shrug, “I don’t know. Anyway, at this point Kofuku and Daikoku are more like family than anything else. You should call him Ojisan next time and see what his reaction is, Yukine.”

“No thanks.” He grabbed a juice box out of the fridge before looking back up, “And stop being so hard on yourself. I know I give you crap all the time, but you’re not a bad role model, I guess.” Yukine continued in a mutter, his cheeks slightly flushed, “We’re surviving anyway, and it’s not like I’m missing out on anything important.”

“Yukineeeeeee.” Yato dropped the bag he had in his hand roughly on the counter and immediately went over to smother the younger boy in a hug.

“Uh, um,” Hiyori managed to stop the bag from falling off the edge, but failed to stop Yato before he clung onto Yukine, causing him to squeeze his juice box so tightly that a large amount of it poured down onto the floor, “Oh, jeez… Be careful, you two.” She immediately started searching for a cleaning rag.

As she ducked down to the floor, Yukine groaned even louder, “See what you did!” Kneeing Yato in the shin and finally getting him to let go, he apologized, “Sorry, Hiyori.”

“Sorry, Hiyori.” Yato echoed, though his apology was more in a betrayed cry aimed towards Yukine.

“Honestly, just don’t touch me and we’ll be fine.” Yukine brushed off his sleeves and headed for the living room, protectively holding his juice box to his chest.

“But what am I supposed to do when you say adorable things like that?” He leaned against the counter and called after him.

Yukine sat down at the table and flipped open one of his schoolbooks, “Leave me alone.” Turning a few pages, he added, “And appreciate it in silence.”

Yato lifted his elbows from the counter and went back to putting away the last bag of groceries, answering simply, “You know I can’t do that.”

“Hug Hiyori instead.” He retorted, “You are dating now.”

“Yu-Yukine-kun!” Hiyori’s hands immediately flew up to cover her face which she could tell was quickly turning a bright shade of red. After seeing Yato glance at her and raise his eyebrow in interest, her condition only grew worse.

Laughing mischievously, he admitted, “That’s not so bad of a plan.”

“Ugh.” She buried her face farther into her hands.

#noragami #yatori #noragami fanfiction #my writing #Good Enough

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