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nakachuchu · 3 years

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Dreams | Shiki Senri

SYNOPSIS: AU where soulmates can see each other's dreams.

READER: female

WORDS: 1196

WRITTEN: 01/14/2021

NOTES: And the soulmate "series" has ended! Thank you for requesting @millennialxletters This was super fun! I think I just had trouble with Takuma for some reason lol. Feel free to request again!

You saw a beautiful woman on stage, acting out a scene to her heart's delight as people clapped for her.

The lighting was dark in the old club. The men were dressed in suits and the women were wearing thin dresses with pearls on their necks.

You looked down at your lap and moved your hands. Ah, your soulmate was dreaming again. Mirrors and reflections never existed in dreams, making it even harder to find out who your soulmate was.

Some people didn't have soulmates, but most did. Every night when someone who has a soulmate fell asleep, they would be lured into their soulmate's dreams and vice-versa.

You could tell your soulmate was a man. At least, you were 99% positive. The underlying one percent came from how pretty and slender his hands were, but after being in his body in his dreams for most of your life, you were certain.

You directed your attention back to the woman on stage. She was absolutely dazzling. Suddenly, your vision began to flicker.

It must be time to wake up.

The next time you blinked and opened your eyes, you were met with a familiar ceiling. Stretching your arms above your head, you sighed.

"Wanna sleep," you mumbled, rubbing at your eyes with your hands.

After getting ready and putting on your black uniform, you got ready for class while pushing thoughts of your soulmate away.

Your day went on as usual. You listened to lectures, ate lunch, went back to class, then got dismissed for the day and dragged away by Shindo to the courtyard at twilight where the Night Class would come out.

You didn't care much for them. You admitted they were attractive, but you'd rather finish your homework, then sleep as long as possible.

"Y/N, let's go closer!" urged Shindo.

"I'd rather not get stepped on by raging girls," you responded.

"Please? I'd love some support from you while I try to give this gift to Ichijo or Aido," she pleaded.

You stared at the puppy-eyed girl in front of you. "Fine. Give me some of your lunch tomorrow."

"Thanks!"

God, you wished you didn't give into Shindo so easily. You were being pushed left and right, and eventually gave up at trying to get out of the mob. You were like a lifeless doll getting tossed around — until you managed to be in the front and fall onto your butt.

"The least you can do is help her up since she's in front of you," muttered Hanabusa.

Senri looked down at you in boredom before extending a hand. You stared at it for a moment before sighing and grabbing the hand, knowing very well that the girls were staring at you.

An electric shock ran through your body, causing you to fall back unconscious. What surprised everyone was that Senri had fallen unconscious as well.

"Oh, dear," said Takuma. "Looks like we'll have to stop by the Headmaster's office."

The next time you opened your eyes, you were in a field of red roses. Looking down, you noticed you were in your own body this time.

"You're awake."

You glanced over to see one of the Night Class students. "Hello."

He nodded as a greeting. "Are you happy?"

You pondered that question for a moment. "Yeah, I think I am. I found my soulmate, after all."

"We're strangers," he pointed out.

"Strangers who are meant to be together. What's your name? I'm Y/N L/N."

"Senri Shiki."

You looked around the dream world you two were in. "Any idea why we're dreaming about a field of red roses? It kind of looks like blood to me."

He crawled over to you on his hands and knees. "Will you stay with me regardless?"

"You're my soulmate. There's no one better for me than you, and no one better for you than me. Plus, I think I'm a pretty understanding person."

The next time you blinked, he was in front of you. He leaned into you, brushing your hair away with one hand as he opened his mouth and sunk his teeth into your neck.

You let out a strangled moan of pain, flinching as you grabbed onto his shirt and clenched your hands around it.

He leaned away slightly, licking the blood away from the bite mark before leaning away completely to push you down onto the field of roses. He towered over you, fangs protruded while holding down your wrists.

"You're a vampire?" you questioned. "I thought they were a myth."

He leaned forward and nuzzled his nose against your jawline. "Are you afraid?"

You smiled, staring up at the starry sky. "No, I'm not. I'm excited. I'm excited I got to meet you and learn your secret. I'm excited to love you."

He froze. "You're... You're excited to love me?"

"Yeah, doesn't that sound nice?"

The corners of his mouth lifted up. "It does sound nice."

You placed a hand on his head, petting his hair. The way he was nuzzling against you reminded you of a kitten. Every now and then, he would let out a hum, similar to how cats purr.

You spent the whole time in your dream land like that, pressed up against each other lovingly under the stars.

Eventually, your bodies began to flicker out of existence. You smiled at Senri and pat his head one last time.

"I'll see you when we wake up," you said.

He nodded, leaning in one last time to press his head against yours before you both disappeared.

The next time you opened your eyes, you saw the side of Senri's face. Blinking a few times, you turned your head and saw a few Night Class students, as well as the headmaster.

You realized you were placed on Senri's lap with his arms around you. Looking around more, you noticed you were in the infirmary.

"Ah, you're awake!" Cross exclaimed, taking a step forward with the intention of checking your vitals.

Senri's arms tightened around you and his eyes narrowed at the headmaster.

"Don't come near her."

Cross stopped and sighed. "Shiki-san, I'm only making sure she's all right."

"She's all right," said Shiki. "Aren't you, Y/N?"

Your eyes darted between the headmaster and Senri. "I'm good, but maybe it's all right if you calm down a bit."

You pat his arm and he relaxed his hold on you a bit.

"Well, I'm glad you feel all right," said Takuma. "I think we should leave them alone."

Kaname nodded, turning around to leave. "The rules still apply, Senri."

Senri nodded.

"Come on, Headmaster," said Takuma, dragging him away.

"They already had twenty-four hours together in their dream!" Cross retorted.

Takuma smiled at you and Senri. "Take your time today." Then, he closed the door behind him.

Senri looked down at you and nuzzled his nose against your nose. "Nap time."

"Senri, we just slept for twenty-four hours!" you exclaimed as he pulled you down onto the bed.

"Hmm." He buried his head into your chest as his eyes closed.

"I guess we could sleep some more," you said as you wrapped your arms around him.

#vampire Knight #vampire knight x reader #senri shiki #senri shiki x reader #hanabusa aido x reader #hanabusa aido #takuma ichijo x reader #takuma ichijo #headcanon #anime #manga #imagine #sfw #fluff #alternate universe #soulmates #request

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comicgeekscomicgeek · 4 years

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Their Hero Academia – Chapter 58: An Exam Cometh!

Presenting the next raw and unedited chapter of my on-going, next-gen, My Hero Academia fic, Their Hero Academia!

Earlier chapters can be found here

There was a somewhat somber mood in the classroom as 1-A settled in Tuesday morning. The funeral yesterday had been the cap to a long week that stretched back to the Nomu attacks and had been a roller coaster for many of them ever since. But things looked to Isamu like they were finally getting back to normal. The class was back together again and even if they weren’t all up to their usual selves, they were getting there. Even Shinso had been in a slightly cheerier mood last night, joining him and Midoriya for a few rounds of Smash Fighters 3000 in Midoriya’s room.

The room fell into a hushed silence as Aizawa entered. They knew by this point not to screw around once he was there. Well, most of them did. He was pretty sure Mineta and Sero hadn’t gotten the same message as everybody else.

Aizawa stood at his podium for a moment before speaking. “Only three seconds to quiet down. An improvement.” His eyes swept the room and his face relaxed a fraction of a centimeter. “I know your Internship experiences were harrowing, but I’ve also had the opportunity to review the feedback your mentors provided, and you all acquitted yourselves well, even in the face of some concerns over discipline.” There was a glance reserved for Mineta and Sero again at that.

“However, that does not change the fact that your final exams will be in two weeks. Your subject exams will be the Monday through Thursday of that week, with the practical Heroics exam on Friday.”

That wasn’t a surprise, really. The dates for final exams had been in the syllabus on the first day of class. But that seemed like both yesterday and a lifetime ago. There was the phrase “time flies when you’re having fun”, but had the term really been fun? It seemed like much of it had been long moments of calm split by absolute and total panic.

Then again, in the time since that first day, he’d made friends, won the Sports Festival, interned with Deku, seen a monster, gotten a girlfriend…

Yeah, okay, there was some fun there.

Up in the front row, he saw Izumi raise her hand. Once Aizwa gave her permission to speak, she asked, “Will you be telling us any details of the exam, Sensei?” she asked.

A good question, and Isamu sat up a little straighter in his seat to listen. Regular final exams would be difficult enough—they weren’t kidding when they said U.A. was academically rigorous!—but he couldn’t imagine what the Heroics exam would be like.

And then something happened that sent a chill up Isamu’s spine. Aizawa… smiled. It wasn’t a normal person’s smile, but a rictus grin, and it looked deeply unsettling on his face. It was the smile of someone about to deliver a devastating smackdown onto a foe and take utter delight in doing it. A shrill scream split the air. It was Sero.

“Dude,” Sato said, “what was that?”

“He’s smiling!” Sero wailed. “We’re doomed! Dooooomed!”

“I’m too young to die!” Kaminari wailed.

“I’m too hot to die!” Mineta shrieked, joining in the wailing.

Even Midoriya, in the front row, seemed afraid. “Oh no, oh no, oh no, not good!”

Isamu felt his own heartbeat quicken, but he took a look to the opposite end of the row to decide what was the most appropriate reaction. Kirishima-Bakugo looked deadly serious, as opposed to her usual pissed off. And even she seemed slightly ill at ease at the prospects hidden behind that smile.

“Funny you should ask, Todoroki,” Aizawa said. “You all did an impressive job working together during the Sports Festival. I don’t know which one of you came up with it, but it was impressive tactical thinking. And since you all like working together, the teachers decided to change up some of the conditions of the Heroics exam.”

There was a mad glint in their teacher’s eyes now. “Either you all pass… or no one does.”

***

That night, Class 1-A gathered in the Common Room. As usual, Isamu sat on one of the couches with Shinso, Izumi, and Sora Iida. Midoriya and Tokoyami were at the front of their room, with a whiteboard. One of the other couches was occupied by Sero, Sato, Ojiro, and Tensei Iida. A third couch was occupied by Aoyama, Koda, Shoji, with Aoyama looking rather small compared to his two classmates. Mineta and Kaminari had pulled up chairs, while Kirishima-Bakugo stood behind the couch Isamu and the others were on, together with the class, but apart as always.

Most of them were chatting away, while Midoriya and Tokoyami, the Class Representatives (Yeah, that was definitely not a job he wanted.) tried to get everyone’s attention, unsuccessfully. “Hey!” Shinso shouted, putting just a little something into his voice to make it echo and pierce the noise. “Toshi and Asuka are trying to talk!”

That got everyone to quiet down.

“Sorry Mom and Dad,” Sero said. That got a laugh out of several people, until Kirishima-Bakugo moved to behind him and gave him a smack upside the head.

“Thank you, Shota,” Asuka said. Frog-Shadow was out again, sitting on her shoulder. “So we’ve got two things to discuss. The first is the formation of study groups for the subject area final exams. Math, Science, Literature, History, Science, and English.”

“We’re hoping to have someone who’s doing well in each class lead some study sessions or make themselves available to answer questions,” Midoriya said.

“We’re all going to die,” Ojiro wailed.

“Kimmie, it’s not that bad,” Sato tried to reassure her.

“This is just going to tank my grades, Kenta!”

“They couldn’t be any worse than mine, Kimmie,” Sero said, grinning.

She punched him in the arm. “That’s not something to be proud of, Takuma!”

“Hey, leave him alone,” Kaminari said. “He’s the only person who’s grades are worse than mine!”

“See,” Sero said, “when it comes to being the worse, I’m the best!”

Both of the Iida twins thrust their hands into the air. “We volunteer for science and math!” Sora Iida said.

Midoriya flushed a little at that. “Ah, actually, Sora, I was thinking maybe not you? Not that you aren’t smart! But, ah, you’re both a lot smarter than most of us. I don’t know if you could dumb it down?”

The hands went down. “That is… acceptable,” Sora said.

“We would not wish to hinder anyone’s progress,” Tensei agreed. “And we do have additional Support Class projects to complete.”

Reluctantly, Isamu put his hand up. “I can probably handle science,” he said. “It was mostly physics this term. I’m good at that.” He had to be, thanks to his Quirk. Knowing how much force to apply and where it was going to send him flying and how much he needed to break at a certain speed was vital.

“Excellent, thank you,” Tokoyami said. She handed her marker to Frog-Shadow, who looked at it curiously. “If you’d write that down?”

“Why me?”

“Because you asked to be more involved,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, right!” Frog-Shadow bubbled, before flying off to write his name down.

Mineta stuck a hand in the air. “I can take English,” she said. “Vocab and translations, anyway. Grammar’s still a little weird.”

“I guess that works,” Midoriya said, though he didn’t look like he believed it. “Just… be on your best behavior, okay?”

“When am I not?”

“If that’s your best behavior, Horse-Girl, I’d hate to see you worst,” Kirishima-Bakugo growled.

“Allow me to provide what Mineta cannot,” Aoyama said. He looked pretty smug about it. Of course, everyone knew that he and Mineta didn’t get along. He was probably relishing an opportunity to show her up in something. “I am reasonably trilingual, after all, n'est-ce pas?”

“And I can take History,” Izumi volunteered.

“Great!” Midoriya said. “Now we’re getting somewhere…”

***

Eventually, they came back around to the subject of the Heroics final exam. Midoriya cleared his throat and looked a little red from embarrassment. “So, this is probably my fault, guys. The whole Sports Festival thing was my plan. Sorry I got us into this mess….”

“Oh, bullshit,” Kirishima-Bakugo said, causing all eyes to fall on her and Isamu to jump. “Maybe you threw some gas on the fire, Toshi, but you have to know Aizawa was planning something like this. Him and his “logical ruses.’” She crossed her arms and nodded, as if that explained everything.

“She does have a point, Toshi,” Izumi said.

“She does?” Midoriya asked, surprised. Then he looked over at Kirishima-Bakugo, who was glaring at him. “She does!”

“You couldn’t have known,” Isamu said. “And it was a good plan. I don’t know if I’d have won if you hadn’t gotten us that far.” If he’d had to race and fight at the same time, without Mineta watching his back (making innuendos the whole way), he doubted he would have done half as well.

But it wasn’t surprising that Midoriya thought it was his fault. The guy always seemed to fall into a pattern of trying to take care of all of them, which meant he was just as likely to try and shoulder all the blame.

“None of us blame you, Toshi,” Tokoyami insisted.

“Besides,” Isamu offered, “I talked to Kana over in 1-B…”

He was interrupted by Ojiro. “Did you hear that? He’s using her first name now! Squeeee! They’re getting closer!”

Okay, he was going to pretend he didn’t hear that. He really didn’t need to end up the topic of conversation on her web show. “As I was saying, I was talking to Kana and she says Super-Ball told 1-B the same thing. Only not as scary as Aizawa was. They’re pass or fail as a group too. She said Super-Ball said it was about building up their teamwork skills.”

“My friend, Mizuno, from 1-C said much the same thing,” Koda said. “Battle-Fist also emphasized the need for better teamwork.”

“Looks like you sparked a revolution, Midoriya,” Sero said, only to be silenced by a smack from Ojiro.

“Okay,” Midoriya said, nodding, taking a couple breaths to steady himself. “So sounds like it was something they were going to do anyway. Not my fault. Good. Then if the Heroics exam is going to be a pass/fail for everyone, we’re going to need a plan.”

“How are we going to do that?” Shoji asked. “We don’t know what form the exam will take.”

Midoriya nodded again, now in his element when a plan was required. “We don’t,” he agreed. “But we do know, whatever it is, it’s going to require us to work together and it’s going to be bigger than anything we’ve had tossed at us before now. That’s the only reasonable extrapolation of the pass/fail condition.”

“So that means,” he went on, “we need to train like we’ve never trained before. Until anybody here can work with anybody else.

“Right now,” Toshi finished, “it doesn’t matter who your best friend is.” He looked over at Sero, Ojiro, and Sato. “It doesn’t matter who you don’t get along with.” This look was given to Aoyama and Mineta. “Or how mad everyone might make you.” A look went out to Kirishima-Bakugo.

“Right now, we’re all in this together. We’re Class 1-A and we need to come together.”

Shinso let out a cheer and a clap. Even Isamu had to admit, he felt pretty inspired.

“Fancy speech, Toshi,” Kirishima-Bakugo said. “But you got a real plan to back it up?”

Midoriya looked a bit deflated at that. “Not entirely,” he admitted. “But Asuka and I were going to discuss some likely scenarios. If you want to help, you’re more than welcome.”

“Damn straight, I will. I’m not letting any of you pull me down with you. We’re gonna pass even if I have to kick your asses every inch of the way.”

Midoriya’s confidence returned. Even Isamu knew this was just her way. “Well, you heard her, people. We’re going to pass!”

Somehow, this became a rallying cry.

“We’re going to pass! PLUS UTLRA!”

***

Izumi’s room always reminded Chihiro of the fact that while she was extremely well off, Izumi’s family was so rich it practically made the word useless. There was a four poster bed, an ornate oak desk, wood paneling added to all the walls… even the desk lamp looked like it cost way more than things like that should. “Don’t touch anything,” she warned Mika.

Mika shot her a dirty look. “I’m not a child, Chi.”

“You’re not always graceful, Mika. Like a bull in a china shop.”

“That’s hurtful. And possibly racist”

Chihiro facepalmed at that. “I’d like to apologize for her in advance,” she said.

“Please, do not worry about it,” Izumi said, standing as they entered. “May I offer you tea and sweets?” She indicated the tea tray and plate she had already laid out.

After she and Mika had accepted Izumi’s offering, all three took seats. “So what’s up?” Chihiro asked. Izumi asking to talk to her was one thing; they were good friends. But other than when she was around, Mika and Izumi didn’t usually have too much to do with one another.

“I need your help,”

Okay, add that to the list of things she never thought she’d hear. “I’m guessing not with homework or anything?” Chihiro said. “Because that’s definitely not me.” Izumi was way towards the front of the class anyway. So was Mika, for that matter. She belatedly realized she was the dumbest person in the room. On the other hand, she might still win the medal for most common sense.

“Not homework,” Izumi assured her. “The matter is more personal.”

“Is this about a guy? Or a girl?” Mika asked. “Because I was ninety-nine percent sure you didn’t go for that.”

Startled at her friend’s abruptness, Chihiro smacked her upside the head with one of her Cords. “Don’t be crude.”

Izumi, fortunately, took it all in stride. “You are correct that I do not “go for that.’”

Huh. Chihiro had always known that Izumi hadn’t displayed much interest in anyone, but given that her other best friend was interested in everyone, she’d figured it was just less interest, not none. How had she been that clueless?

“So what do you need?” Chihiro asked.

Izumi closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath. When she opened them, she looked as serious as Chihiro had ever seen her. “I need to find my grandfather.”

“What happened?” Mika asked. “Was there a big tax scandal? Is Grandpa Yaoyorozu hiding out from the feds in the tropics?”

“No,” Izumi said. “Not him. My grandfather on my father’s side.”

“Endeavor?” Chihiro asked. “Why?” A thought occurred to her, something that had come up during her Internship with Aunt Momo. “Wait, does this have anything to do with Plague?”

Next to her, Mika had pulled out her phone, but right now, her friend’s rudeness wasn’t her biggest concern.

Izumi’s eyes went wide. “How do you know that name?”

“Daddy called Aunt Momo. Said you’d found out about somebody with that name.”

Izumi took another moment to collect her thoughts. "What I am about to tell you cannot leave this room."

"Izumi, you're scaring me." Her friend was never this intense. Whatever it was, this all had to be deadly serious.

Izumi locked eyes with her. "Promise me, Chihiro."

Chihiro was worried now, but kept eye contact. "Okay. I promise."

"Do you remember when I was sick?"

That did very little to narrow it down. Izumi had had plenty of health issues over the years. Chihiro had visited her in the hospital countless times. "You're going to need to specify, Izumi. You've been sick a lot."

"The time I was very sick. The time that really started it all."

Oh yeah. That one. Chihiro looked at the floor. "I remember."

Izumi sighed. "During my internship, Uncle Denki let it slip that there was possibly something more... complicated behind it."

Daddy was in on whatever this was? "Complicated? How?"

"Complicated, as it was the implied that it was a villain, this “Plague,” who got me sick."

“Okay,” Chihiro said, her head spinning as she tried to make sense of it. Nervously, she tapped the ends of her Cords together. “Okay, did you talk to your parents about this?”

Izumi shook her head. "I did not. After the Nomu attacks, Mother and Father...they wanted to pull me from the school. I exhausted myself. Again."

Of course they did. She knew it was ongoing drama with Izumi and her parents.

Before she could speak, Izumi held up her hand. "I managed to talk them down. For now. Part of me suspects that at the next big incident, the next time I falter, they'll try again. That's why I didn't ask them. I couldn't. I didn't want to bring up the pain they went through again."

Izumi pointed to a plush rabbit on her bed, one which looked fairly new. “I am certain he visited me in the hospital. Things are… becoming complicated.”

Izumi inhaled deeply before continuing. "I've been thinking a lot since then. I've been remembering things. Things I thought I forgot. I want to find out what happened to me, but I can't go to my parents. I can't go to anyone, not your father, not Uncle Deku, no one, because they'll go to my parents. I know I can count on you to keep my secrets, both of you.

“I cannot burden Katsumi with this. She has enough to carry right now without carrying me as well. You don't have to help if you don't want to get in trouble-"

“Found him,” Mika said, looking up from her phone.

“…How the hell did you do that?” Chihiro asked. It could not possibly have been that easy.

“Daddy never changes his login ID or password for anything,” Mika said. “I just used one of the databases available to Heroes to look up an address. It’s not even that far.”

Chihiro just stared. “Every time I think I’ve got you figured out…”

Izumi looked equally startled, worried, and pleased. “Thank you, Mineta,” she said, quietly.

Mika shrugged. “Hey, what’re friends for?”

***

Normally, Toshi did his morning jog with Katsumi, sometimes joined by Kana Tetsutetsu. He’d also occasionally convinced Haimawari to join them, though that was fairly rare. But this morning, he was alone. Katsumi had begged off for wanting to focus on weight training instead and Tetsutetsu was apparently busy with some emergency in her dorm, according to her text.

Which was fine. He could be alone with his thoughts. Like the thought that he didn’t have idea one what they were getting into with the exam and it would definitely be his fault if they all failed, bringing shame upon the Midoriya name and leading to Sora dumping him and Katsumi killing him.

Well. That had escalated quickly.

“Mi… Midoriya!” The sound of his name drew him out of his panic. It came with labored breathing and he came to a stop, turning and seeing Shiro Monoma, dressed in workout clothes, running up behind him. Monoma’s not out of shape, but it’s a wiry build, more suited to agility and gymnastics, than Toshi’s more muscular one.

“What’s up, Monoma?” he asked. Monoma hadn’t done anything antagonistic yet, which was a good sign. In fact, Toshi couldn’t remember seeing him at all during the past week, or even hearing him, which was even stranger. He didn’t have the same extreme dislike for the other boy that Katsumi did, but he would hardly say they were on friendly terms, even though they were neighbors. Honestly, he mostly did his best to ignore Monoma’s jabs at the class.

“I need to talk to you about the exam,” Monoma said.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do any more than you do,” Toshi told him. “I can make a few educated guesses though, based on our Heroics classes and all though. Happy to talk, if you want.”

He stole a glance at his watch. “Can we run though? I want to get this in before classes and my heart rate’s already dropping.”

Monoma looked rather pained by the prospect, but nodded. “Okay.”

Since he wasn’t completely unfeeling, Toshi did tone his run down to something slightly less than his usual, letting Monoma keep up. “So like I said, I don’t really know, but I can guess. Got to be something large scale, if they’re going to be able to score all of us on it. And that means something with a lot of different moving parts. Probably Villains to fight, people to rescue, maybe something to find like a bomb…”

Monoma was, to his credit, keeping up with Toshi, though he looked like he was pushing himself a bit to do it. “That’s… good thinking…,” he said, between breaths. “But not what I wanted to ask about.”

“Then what?” Toshi asked.

“I need to know,” Monoma said, with such seriousness that it took Toshi aback for a moment. “how you got… everyone to work… together.”

Toshi took pity on him and slowed down a little more. “Everyone. Teamwork from the get go. How do you get them to follow you like that? How did you get all those different personalities to work together like that?”

Shiro’s voice turned bitter. “I try and I try to make everyone better. I want them to succeed, I really do. But no one listens to me. I can’t… Hardly any of my class made it through the final round. And I got lucky as it was. I’m worried about them and the final exam.”

“Them?” Toshi asked. His phrasing there was odd. “Them,” he’d said. Not “us”.

Monoma frowned. “I had hoped to keep this a secret. Almost no one knows about this. But I’m leaving once this term is over. I’m not cut out for this. But with how the exam is going to work… I can’t cost them their futures just because mine’s going to be something else.”

Toshi couldn’t keep the surprise off his face, but fortunately, Monoma wasn’t looking at him to see it. “You’re…” he began. He actually came to a stop. Running was a good way to lose himself, and he needed all his wits now.

“I am,” Monoma said, finishing the thought for him. He bent half off, breathing hard. He righted himself after a few breaths. “Don’t try to talk me out of it.”

Now Toshi frowned, but he nodded. “Not my place to do that. But I think it’s a mistake.”

Monoma shook his head. “It’s not. But what about my class? And what about the exam?” There was a moment of silence, and then, “Please. I can’t let failure be my entire legacy here.”

If he lived long enough to become the new Number One Hero, Toshi never would have thought he’d have heard Monoma talk like this. Usually, the blond boy was full of bravado and confidence, always trying to prove his class’s superiority over 1-A. And to be fair, 1-A contained the children of a large number of highly ranked Heroes, something that few of Class 1-B could claim. None of their parents were low ranked, but there was a certain degree of disparity there. And a much larger portion of Class 1-B had no Hero parents at all.

“Okay, the first thing you have to remember,” Toshi told him, “is that we’re almost all childhood friends. Some of us more than others and in some different combinations… but we grew up together. Our parents are close and they passed that onto us. Trust’s easy that way.”

Given that his parent’s Class A had gone through hell together over three years in a way that their contemporary Class B hadn’t, it was easy to see where stronger bonds might have been forged.

Monoma nodded. “My father’s class drifted more during the years. Kana is the only one I was anything close to growing up, along with Mika and Akaya.”

“The other big thing is… Look. My dad’s the Number One Hero. I wanted to do the best I could, but the Sports Festival was never about winning for me.” And sure, he’d managed to share third place with Kocho. He was proud of his accomplishments, and he’d gone in intending to give it his all, but it hadn’t been his main goal. Toshi would have been just as happy not to have placed, if it meant other of his friends did.

“So I went in it from the start doing it for them. And they knew that, so they went along with it. It wasn’t even about beating your class or anybody else in the race; I just wanted to make sure everybody had the best chance they could. Somebody like Ojiro or Sato would have had a real hard time doing that in the obstacle course. So I asked everybody to take a step back now so that they could all have something later.”

It hadn’t quite been as easy as he made it sound. Convincing Aoyama had been one of the most difficult parts, but the promise of future glories had eventually been enough.

Monoma looked as though he’d been punched. “…Shit.” His expression devolved further, becoming truly miserable. “During the Sports Festival, I was so concerned with… things turning out a certain way, I pushed for flare and making a splash. And not all of them even made it past the Obstacle Course. Maybe I really do drag them down. Maybe she was right.”

Toshi frowned. This was turning pretty dark on him. And he wasn’t sure who “she” was. “Look,” he said. “You want what’s best for them. That’s admirable. But if you go so hard on trying to show somebody up, then that’s all you’re going to see. That’s what Endeavor did for a long time, and you know what happened to him.”

Monoma sighed, then nodded. “Then I am more certain than ever I’ve made the right choice. But at least I know what I can do for them to help everyone else pass. Thank you, Midoriya.”

As Monoma left, Toshi wasn’t certain at all that he’d said the right things there. It certainly didn’t seem like a victory.

***

In the teacher’s lounge, Aizawa looked over the finalized draft of the Heroics practical exam. Talking All Might into it had been difficult, but worth it. He’d staked his job and reputation on it, but he believed the results would be worth it.

His students, all the students, were talented. But even with recent events, what they needed was a stark dose of reality to push them further along their paths.

He looked at the profiles spread out in front of him. The people he’d found would be just the ones to do it.

#my hero academia #their hero academia #izumi todoroki #mika (tha)#toshi midoriya #shiro monoma #chihiro kaminari #fan fic #fan fiction #isamu haimawari #my writing

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archival-account · 4 years

Text

THE STRANGERS FROM THE CRIMSON TIDES | Ikalawang Kabanta, Ikalawang Bahagi

The campsite surrounded a bonfire that burned brightly and fiercely. The smoldering light of fire created shadows before it - tall men in uniform. Some holding knives, some holding guns, others in deep chatter. They didn’t seem put any much concern to the other men around them when...

“Everyone! Help! Man down! Man down! Commander Tawada got hit!”

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing. Soldiers sitting by the bonfire stood up as others already ran to the men supporting their injured commander. Officers who heard the clamor got out from their tents and joined the circle of soldiers who are carrying their fellow comrade.

Asako Satoka, a trusted colonel of the general, led the group to the infirmary where Kenzou Yukitou was manning the tent.

“Doctor Kenzou! Doctor Kenzou!” Asako called out, grabbing the attention of the idle doctor. “Commander Tawada’s been shot!”

Hideya groaned, disgruntled by the fact he got a wound on his first day, and that he wasn’t able to deter himself from the attacker. He knew it wasn’t entirely his fault, but still. He missed an opportunity to strike. But then again, how would he know whether or not the person is armed?

“Aiyah...” Kenzou mumbled, clicking his tongue. He walked from the portable surgery table to the group of waiting soldiers. “Put Commander Tawada on the futon. Lay him down and make space for me,” he instructed sternly. With him are his basic surgeon tools with rolls of bandages.

Asako and the soldiers laid Hideya down, careful not too put strain on his bleeding thigh. Hideya grunted and groaned as the pain of the bullet seared through his flesh. The bleeding hadn’t stopped but it had slowed down while he was being transported from the place where he was shot. Nonetheless, he kept losing blood at a constant rate. Therefore, he would need immediate medical attention before the blood is fully drained from him.

As the men made way for the military doctor, Kenzou surveyed Hideya first. He was satiated by the fact that there were no extra injuries, other than the bullet wound on his thigh. Without wasting time, Kenzou cut the fabric of Hideya’s pants, right atop of the wound. When he saw the injury, he clicked his tongue once again.

Whoever shot Commander Twada had a nifty gun himself. It’ll take a while for me to retrieve the bullet from the muscle, Kenzou thought.

By then, word had got around and it reached the ears of General Mario Kuroba, and his two other commanders, Zaiki Takuma and Spi. All three men made their way to the infirmary tent and asked the soldiers what had happened right away.

The youngest of the bunch, Sato Wotaru, piped up, saying, “We were scheduled to patrol the area near a valley. We didn’t suspect a trespasser to be around and we got startled. We weren’t able to capture him or see his face, even. Before we knew it, Commander Tawada got shot, so called for help.”

One of the pursuers, Aroki Miuda, continued the narrative. He said, “We heard their cry for help, so me and my friend came around. The trespasser was still around, so we decided to pursue him instead. Unfortunately, we lost track of him in the deeper part of the woods. He knew how to dispose us from his tracks.”

“I see,” Mario said, quite surprised of the kerfuffle that happened on their first day here. (Technically, they are on their second day because it happened in the early hours of the dawn.) “Is he badly injured, Doctor Kenzou?”

Kenzou hunched his shoulders as he exhaled. He said, “It depends, general. The wound seems pretty deep and the bleeding is kind of constant. But there’s nothing pressure and metal can fix. Please excuse yourselves, men. I’d rather work without an audience.”

Within a few minutes, everyone had shuffled out of the infirmary tent, leaving the doctor and patient alone.

As Kenzou applied alcohol to cotton balls, Hideya couldn’t help but make a small talk. If there’s one thing that could take his mind off from the pain, it would be chattering. He said, “Hey, doc...”

“Not now, commander. Save your energy and saliva for later when I’m done.”

“The trespasser wasn’t a man...”

Yes, and your injury was just ketchup sauce. The next thing I know, this was all a prank, Kenzou thought as he laid his first-aid kit on the ground. He nitpicked all of them until he settled for the longest, thinnest pair of tweezers he could find.

“How would I be inclined to believe that, hmm?” Kenzou asked, hunching his trunk as he held the tweezers. “I thought neither of you four saw his face.”

“I just knew it wasn’t a man... I could tell from the hand that held the revolver.”

“A revolver, you now say. And here I thought you’d never ever even seen the weapon.”

“I... I am a commander, remember?”

“Ah, yes. I forgot about that, because all I’m ever seeing now is a mere patient, not a military officer. Now, hush up and let me work. The sooner I can get the bullet, the faster I can patch you up.”

While the doctor meddled with the patient, the remaining higher-ups held a small meeting in Mario’s tent.

They were baffled by what happened. They weren’t expecting the occurrence that had happened to Hideya. As much as they were expecting a broil from the Allied Powers, they weren’t ready to deal an early damage on their side.

However, that was highly debatable since it was considered a possibility.

According to Zaiki, who assumed the worse, it could have been anybody who was siding with the Americans - be it an American himself or a Filipino who could be a mercenary, a spy, an undercover, or a secret agent to the governing colonizer.

Mario, as he was somehow opposed to Zaiki, said, “We cannot immediately assume the worst of the worst. If we go ahead of ourselves, General Hirohito might steam ahead. We can’t let such a force alarm rush the plan.”

Spi interjected, “General Kuroba, is right, commander. We can’t immediately assume it’s the enemy who shot our comrade. Who knows, really. Maybe it was a careless witness.”

Zaiki disagreed and argued, “And if that ‘careless’ witness gets ahold of any men from the nemesis lines-”

Mario raised his hands, silencing the debating commanders. He honestly didn’t want to hear any of it. After all, it was only their first day and something broke out that alarmed their squadron. Figuring only the safest probability, the calm general only said, “Let’s not put our worst foot on this. If word goes out and somehow would reach General Hirohito’s ears, the plan would have a dent and put our respectful leader to a pinch. This was as far as we can all go and yet, I don’t want us to go all in because of a minor inconvenience. Let bygones be bygones and, who knows? Maybe that witness might leave what he sees on the spot.”

Zaiki didn’t allow himself to believe but he relented reluctantly while taking his words with a grain of salt. Spi didn’t fully put his trust on the general’s words, but he understood that he’s just trying to douse the fire that incidentally sparked.

“Well, I hope he does leave whatever memory he got there on the spot,” Zaiki grunted, standing up from the folding chair and dusting himself. “I’m not fully convinced by that, though. But I’m tired of disputing the matter until we can do something about it.” He took his pouch and his Arisaka. “I’m going back to my tent. Good night, general, commander.”

When he left, Spi didn’t immediately follow him. Instead, he followed up the general with the question, “But what would really happen if that witness testifies what he had seen and done?”

“He won’t.” Mario cocked his own Arisaka. “Because he can try and we will see what will happen to him if he does.”

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haru-desune · 6 years

Text

Step by Step, Breath by Breath

So guess who finished the entire manga and was sorely disappointed that this fandom was so small. Just to make it clear I am already Hayaryuu trash, but you’ll hopefully be seeing a lot of stuff (Hayaryuu or not) from me in this little pocket of fandom because I am inspired ™. Anyway I have a test in 10 hours that I’m yet to study for, so wish me luck! Also, this is a long one, so you can also read it on your preferred fic platform: (AO3) (FF.net)

Hayato couldn’t remember how he’d become friends with Kashima Ryuuichi. Oh, he remembered meeting him that first day in the day care, the overly concerned boy and his silent little brother. He remembered the way Kashima had run after him that night too, clutching Kotaro close, moments away from tears and begging for help. They weren’t friends though, not at that point. That had come later. Sometime between Taka dragging him into whatever activity the toddlers were immersed in and him actually signing up to be a member of the babysitters club, Hayato had made a friend. By the time the culture festival rolled around, Kashima had become Ryuuichi, at least in his head.

“Aniki, Taka wants to go to the park!” Taka’s usual excitement made him grimace. It was getting close to summer and it was hot. Hayato was currently comfortably positioned directly under the air conditioner with the latest issue of Sports Graphic Number and a glass of orange juice. He took a deep, calming breath.

“No.” he said, eyes never leaving the glossy pages of his magazine. He braced himself for the inevitable waterworks.

“WAAHH! ANIKI IS MEAN!”

Hayato grunted and turned the page.

“I HATE ANIKI!”

“Don’t care.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice that sounded distinctly like Ryuuichi berated him for his behaviour. He stifled a snort. Had Ryuuichi been in his place, Taka would probably have been at the park by now. Instead, the kid was rolling on the ground beating his fists and kicking his legs, tears and snot pouring down his face as he bawled at the top of his lungs. Hayato rolled his eyes.

“Quit crying you brat.”

“I’m telling mom!”

Despite being half drowned out by Taka’s blubbering, the threat was enough to give him a pause. He groaned internally. His brother was such a pain. If only he took a page out of Kotaro’s book. Calm, quiet Kotaro. Hayato shook his head in defeat.

“Fine, we can go to the park. But only for a little while.

Taka froze in the midst of his tantrum, blinking owlishly at him, snot still dripping from his nose. Hayato sighed.

“Go put your shoes on stupid.”

“’m not stupid” said Taka petulantly, as he scrambled up and wiped his nose on his sleeve. It didn’t stop him from giving his brother a blinding grin before racing out the door. He couldn’t help the small smile that graced his lips in response. On second thought, Taka was fine the way he was. Hayato wouldn’t know what to do with calm and quiet anyhow. He shook his head at the uncharacteristically fond thought. Mind-Ryuuichi was cheering, the idiot. Sighing, he took out his phone to call the Kashima brothers. Taka would probably like the company.

“Kamitani, what did you get for number 4?” Ryuuichi asked in a soft whisper. They were sitting at the small plastic table in the day care room, quietly working on their homework while the toddlers (and Usaida) took their afternoon nap.

“X equals 55”

“That’s… not what I got.”

Hayato stretched and let out a low groan, trying to ease the tension that had built up in his shoulders. He was way too tall for their current environment. He pulled Ryuuichi’s notebook towards himself, and glanced at the problem in question. He stared at the page in front of him in disbelief.

“Kashima, you got an imaginary number. There aren’t even any square roots in this question.”

Next to him, Ryuuichi flushed, avoiding eye contact. Math was one of his weaker subjects, and he had a tendency to overthink the questions. Hayato knew this, which is why he gently cuffed the back of his friend’s head, before turning to a fresh page and copying out the problem once more.

“Okay first you need to divide by two.” he said, writing out the step in red ink so that it stood out clearly on the page. He paused for a moment, to make sure he had Ryuuichi’s attention before continuing through the problem, writing each step in alternating colours so that it was easy to understand.

“And so x equals 55.” he said, finishing the problem and turning to Ryuuichi to see if he understood. He was met with a familiar determined look, which melted into a wide smile as he caught his eye.

“Yes! I understand now! Thanks Kamitani!”

The corners of Hayato’s mouth quirked upwards. “Don’t worry about it.”

It was nearly lunchtime, and Usaida had decided that it was a wonderful day for a picnic. The idea was either brilliant or idiotic, Hayato couldn’t quite decide. As usual, he and Ryuuichi were left wrangling the energetic toddlers, while Usaida followed at a relaxed pace, with baby Midori strapped to his chest.

Somehow they managed to get to the picnic spot, a small clearing among some trees on the far side of the campus, without any of their charges wandering off. Ryuuichi successfully laid down the blanket without displacing Kotaro, who was perched solemnly on his shoulders, Hayato broke up a fight between Taka and Kirin with a well-placed glare, and they all sat down to eat.

“Itadakimasu!” they said together, though it sounded more like ‘itdakma’ from the kids.

Hayato unwrapped his bento before casually leaning towards his brother and smacking him over the head before he could complain about the numerous vegetables their mother had packed. Predictably, Taka began to bawl, and Ryuuichi shot him a look from the other end of the group, where he and Kotaro were (unsuccessfully) trying to convince Kirin that Mochi Lion-chan did, in fact, want her to eat him. Hayato merely raised an eyebrow at him, and the disapproving look transformed into an exasperated yet fond laugh which made his chest tighten oddly. He quickly looked away, focusing on his own bento and occasionally reminding Taka and Takuma not to talk with their mouths full. He didn’t catch the small, confused frown that flashed across Ryuuichi’s face, nor the speculative one that crossed Usaida’s.

Hayato wasn’t an idiot. He knew that he was relatively popular among the girls in his class. He’d had a couple of love letters in his locker and more than a few gifts during Valentine’s Day, but never once had he looked back at any of those girls. He’d just never been interested. So why did the love confession in Ryuuichi’s locker make his stomach churn? Why did he have to constantly fight the urge to snap at Inomata and Ushimaru? Why did his heart turn summersaults each time Kamatsuki-sensei made him practice being (female) Ryuuichi’s boyfriend? Why did he want to punch Inui-senpai’s face in when Ryuuichi (still dressed as a girl) asked Hayato to leave the two alone after they successfully carried out the plan? And why did he feel a fond, fluttering warmth in his chest later that evening when his (best) friend, with his face buried in his hands, told him exactly how that encounter went?

“You like him.”

Hayato turned his head slightly to acknowledge Usaida as the man altered his pace to match his own. They were at the trailing behind on this afternoon’s walk, content to move a bit more leisurely than usual. He decided to play dumb, though he had a feeling that the flaming tips of his ears would give him away.

“Who?”

Usaida rolled his eyes, before nodding to the front of the group, where Ryuuichi had the 5 toddlers mesmerized by an orange and black butterfly. The usually boisterous Taka and Takuma were watching in awed silence, and even timid Kazuma peered curiously at it from behind Ryuuichi’s back. The other boy was kneeling in the grass, quietly explaining something to the group of enraptured children with a gentle expression. Hayato couldn’t help the soft, affectionate smile that crept onto his face at the sight. Ryuuichi chose that moment to look up, catch his eye, and beam happily at him.

“Ah, young love. A beautiful thing.” Usaida snickered, the sound making Midori giggle as well.

“Shut up.”

They were at the park again, watching over their brothers. Taka had pulled Kotaro to the sandbox, and they were busy making the Ranger 5 fortress. At least that’s what Taka called it. The two seemed content pushing as much sand as they could into a mound in the middle of the box. The older brothers sat on the swings nearby, juice boxes in hand, content and confident they wouldn’t be troubled, as the park was relatively empty since it wasn’t as popular as the main one downtown.

Ryuuichi smiled at the peaceful scene that unfolded in front of them, before pulling out his phone to take a picture. He fumbled with the device, dropping it onto the grass under the swing set, laughing sheepishly as he bent to pick it up, tongue poking out of his mouth slightly in his effort to not get off the swing or spill his juice in the process. Hayato glanced at him from the corner of his eye and huffed a laugh.

“You might be the clumsiest person I’ve ever met, Ryuuichi.”

He froze. There was a clatter next to him as Ryuuichi nearly tumbled to the ground in surprise.

“Did you just-”

“Forget I said-”

They both spoke together tripping over their words. They stared at each other until the embarrassment became too much, and Hayato had to look away, certain his face could give the setting sun a run for its money. It certainly felt warm enough to power a planet. They both watched their brothers so intently that the toddlers looked up from their play with a shiver. Hayato took a sip of his juice, just to have something to do.

“You know,” said Ryuuichi tentatively “I don’t mind you using my first name… Hayato.”

Hayato choked so hard he fell off the swing.

On the positive side, they had both gotten used to calling each other by their first name. Well, that is to say they didn’t freeze or stumble anymore when it happened. Hayato was pretty sure he’d never get over the sound of his name in Ryuuichi’s voice though. At least he hoped he wouldn’t. On the downside, he wasn’t sure where this left them. Was this a sign that Ryuuichi returned his feelings? Or did he see this as just another level of friendship? Rather than tear his hair out over the situation, Hayato elected to move on as though nothing had changed, rolling his eyes at Usaida’s frequent knowing looks. And if he had to tamp down a wave of hope every time Ryuuichi smiled at him and only him or sat a little closer than necessary while studying, well, he has always been a practical person.

Hayato found another love letter in his locker on Friday and Ryuuichi wasn’t talking to him. It was not a good weekend.

They had found it in the afternoon, because Ryuuichi had to run an errand, and he, like the good friend (read: besotted idiot) he was, offered to keep him company. When he opened his locker, he’d found the letter, blue paper sealed with a vaguely familiar looking smiley-face sticker, and had opened it out of habit. He’d scanned the first few lines, before registering what it was, sighing and stuffing it into his bag so that he could pull on his shoes. When he’d turned to face Ryuuichi however, he looked oddly… disappointed. They completed the errand in a strange, suffocating silence, and Ryuuichi had been ignoring him ever since.

He wanted to catch up with him in the day care, but he had baseball practice that day, and the captain might have actually cried if he skipped. He played terribly for an hour, unable to keep his head in the game, until the coach gave up and sent him home under the mistaken impression that he’d fallen ill.

“Rest up and feel better Kamitani.” he said gruffly, giving him an awkward pat on his shoulder. He had simply nodded past the lump in his throat. He thought about heading to the day care, but he figured whatever was going on would sort itself out, and went home.

Ryuuichi didn’t call all weekend. He didn’t reply to his messages either. Not that he was checking them obsessively or anything. He was fine.

Come Monday morning, Ryuuichi practically sprinted passed him to class when he came to drop Taka off at the day care. He spent the rest of the day avoiding Hayato, sticking to his other classmates and even going to lunch with a red faced Ushimaru, and boy didn’t that feel like a punch in the gut. He resolved to deal with it on the way to babysitters club, but of course he was on clean up duty and Ryuuichi left without him. Hayato swept the classroom faster than he’d ever done before and raced all the way to the day care.

He found Usaida pulled once again into one of Kirin’s massive games of house, while Ryuuichi, somehow spared this time around, was smiling at the scene from the side-lines. His gaze landed on Hayato and the smile slid off his face, replaced by something sadder, and Hayato’s heart sank. Ryuuichi moved to the bookshelf, making as though to tidy it up, and Hayato caught Usaida’s eye.

“Fix this.” He mouthed trying to hide his wince as Kirin combed his hair with a plastic ham while Takuma tried to get him to eat a hairbrush. Hayato rolled his eyes. He’d fix it if someone told him what was wrong. He walked over to the bookshelf, and Ryuuichi turned slightly to keep his back to him.

“Hey can we talk?” he asked, motioning towards the hallway. The last thing he needed was six little (and one big) eavesdroppers. Ryuuichi nodded uncertainly. They made it into the hallway and out of the front doors with none of the children noticing. Ryuuichi turned to face him.

“What did you want to talk about K-kamitani?”

Hayato never thought it would hurt so much to hear his own name. It must have shown on his face, because Ryuuichi’s expression was strange mixture of guilty and determined. Hayato sighed.

“What’s going on with you Ryuuichi?” the boy flinched at the sound of his name, and Hayato could feel that pesky lump in his throat again. He ploughed on. “You’ve been ignoring me ever since I got that confession letter.”

“Yeah. That.”

“Wait. Is that’s what’s bothering you?” Was he- jealous? Something akin to hope fluttered in his chest. “I didn’t read beyond the first few lines!”

“Y-you didn’t?”

“No, we had somewhere to be, remember?”

That strange, determined look was on Ryuuichi’s face again. “Do you still have it?”

“Yeah, I think so. It’s in my bag.” He rummaged around for the blue paper, before holding it up triumphantly. Ryuuichi was gone. Hayato groaned, tamping down the sudden flare of disappointment, ready to rush back into the building, but something caught his eye. The sticker used to seal the letter was still annoyingly familiar. He opened the letter as though compelled by an outside force, and began to read.

Kamitani-kun,

I wasn’t sure if I would be brave enough to write this letter. I’m not great with words and this is something that could end in disaster, or it could be the best thing that will happen to me. I don’t know, I suppose I just want to say that I like you. I like you a lot, and I’ve liked you for a long time. I like your hair and your eyes. I like how honest you are when you speak. I like how gently you smile when you think no one is watching. I like how you care so much about baseball, but chose to join the babysitters club anyway on your days off. I like how you’re always there for Taka no matter how gruff you are with him. Basically I like you, Hayato. I’m no poet, but I will say that my heart is in your hands. Please take care of it.

You know where to find me.

-Ryuuichi

All at once Hayato remembered where he’d seen that sticker. Just last week, Kotaro had climbed into his lap and stuck one onto the middle of his forehead.

He raced back into the building, and managed to catch Ryuuichi just before he turned the corner to the day care. He skidded to a stop, throwing his arm out so that the shorter boy was pinned between him and the wall. Ryuuichi let out a startled squeak, turning bright red when he realized how close their faces were. He still wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“You idiot,” growled Hayato “you know I never read confessions!”

“I had a plan!” Hayato snorted and Ryuuichi looked affronted.

“Why did you start it with Kamitani-kun? If you’d just called me Hayato from the start I probably would have figured it out!”

“Aren’t love letters supposed to be formal? I thought it fit! It was a great plan! But then you read it, I mean, it looked like you did, and you didn’t respond or act any differently or anything and I thought I was reading things wrong, and then I figured I should distance myself from you, because otherwise it would hurt too much and well-” Ryuuichi was staring intently at the ground again, and Hayato needed to fix this now. So with one hand still supporting himself against the wall, he used his free hand to tilt Ryuuichi’s face upwards, and in the split second it took for their eyes to meet, Hayato closed the distance, pressing their lips together in a searing kiss. When they broke apart, gasping, Ryuuichi gave him a small, shaky smile which he returned before they slid down the wall to sit on the floor, neither of them willing to break the moment and head back into the day care. Hayato sent a silent thank you to Usaida for not coming out to check on them.

“So does this mean-”

“Yes.”

Ryuuichi tilted his head in confusion. “Yes what?”

“Yes everything.”

The two grinned at each other and sat right there in the school corridor for a while in comfortable silence, before Hayato lifted himself off the ground. As he reached down to help Ryuuichi up, a thought occurred to him.

“When did you even put the letter in my locker?”

Ryuuichi blushed and refused to meet his eye. He looked at his (boy?)friend suspiciously. “You didn’t actually need 7 cups of rice pudding for the club that day, did you?”

“How was I supposed to know you’d want to come with me!?”

Hayato laughed until his legs gave out, pulling both himself and Ryuuichi back to the ground.

“Why do I feel like I’m about to meet my stepchild for the first time?”

Ryuuichi’s mildly panicked muttering made Hayato snort. Mamizuka-sensei had just picked up the twins, leaving Taka and Kotaro the only kids in the day care. Hayato glanced quickly at the corner where the two were looking at a picture book before sharing a look with Ryuuichi. After dating for a month, they decided it was time that their brothers knew about it. He didn’t know why Ryu was so worried though, Taka adored him already. On the other hand everyone knew that if you wanted to date Ryuuichi, Kotaro was your biggest love-rival. Hayato fought the urge to swallow nervously. Ryu grasped his hand and gave it a quick squeeze, before getting the attention of the two younger boys.

“Taka, Kotaro, come here a minute.”

In a rare (at least on Taka’s end) show of obedience the two immediately trotted over. Ryu cleared his throat nervously as they both knelt in front of the toddlers.

“Hayato and I… that is to say, Taka me and your Aniki… well, we’re sort of…”

The two little boys were looking at him in increasing confusion, so Hayato sighed and came to his boyfriend’s rescue. “Ryuuichi and I are dating.” The look of confusion hadn’t cleared, so he tried again. “We’re boyfriends.”

Taka blinked. “Like… kissy kissy?”

Ryuuichi nodded enthusiastically. Taka’s eyes filled with tears and Ryu looked at Hayato in helpless panic. The toddler pulled out his toy sword and started to hit Ryu with it.

“ANIKI IS MINE! YOU CAN’T TAKE HIM AWAY I WON’T LET YOU!”

Kotaro seemed to be in shock. He hadn’t moved from his position since he heard the news.

Ryu shot him a helpless look as he shielded himself from the tiny blows, and Hayato gently but firmly pulled his brother away. Ryuuichi opened his arms out to Kotaro, which seemed enough to snap him out of his state, as he barrelled into his brother’s chest, burying his face in his jacket. Taka had taken up a similar position in his own brother’s lap, with more sobbing. Hayato exchanged a look with his boyfriend. Both he and Ryu knew that if their brothers weren’t happy with this relationship, it wasn’t going to work. Taking a deep breath, he spoke in a voice that was calmer than he felt.

“Kotaro?”

“Ung.”

“I know you love your brother a lot. I like him a lot too.” Kotaro turned to look at him, and he counted it as a win. “I promise you, your Ni-chan isn’t going anywhere without you. I just want to make him happy, but he can’t be happy while Kotaro is sad, can he?”

Kotaro stared at him silently, and again, Hayato had to fight the urge to swallow. He flicked his eyes up to Ryu, but his boyfriend looked equally nervous. Then Kotaro turned to face Ryu.

“Ni-chan happy?”

Ryu nodded.

“Kotaro make Ni-chan happy?”

“Yes.” came the quiet reply.

“Kami-chan make Ni-chan happy?”

“Very happy.”

Kotaro broke out into a huge grin, turning again to face Hayato. “We make Ni-chan happy t’geter!”

Damn, that lump was definitely back. Hayato nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Kotaro grinned wider.

“Taka too!” he said pointing at the other boy, who’s sobs had quietened and had turned around to face them. He tilted his head in surprise. Ryuuichi, seeing his chance, spoke up.

“Taka, you know I’d never take your Aniki away from you right?”

Taka’s lower lip wobbled. “Taka loves Aniki.”

“And your Aniki loves you too.” said Ryu, shooting Hayato a look. Taka whipped his head around to stare at him, and Hayato nodded, figuring that it was okay, at least today, to be honest. Taka gaped in shock, and Ryu chuckled, bringing the boy’s attention back to him. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“The thing is, it’s not like you’re going to be seeing less of your Aniki. Instead, you’ll probably be seeing more of me and Kotaro.”

Taka visibly perked up at that. “Aniki will be there lots? Ryu-ni and Kotaro will be there lots?”

“Of course! Taka is my friend, right? And Kotaro’s friend too?”

“Yes!”

“Then nothing changes, right?”

Taka looked at him like it was a trick question, then broke out into a grin.

“Yay! Aniki and Ryu-ni kissy kissy!”

Hayato slapped a palm to his face and Ryuuichi turned a bright shade of scarlet.

“Uh, I’m glad you’re happy for us Taka, but please don’t say it like that!”

“KISSY KISSY! KISSY KISSY!”

Hayato felt a pressure at his side as Ryuuichi buried his face into his neck and groaned as Taka grabbed Kotaro’s hand and pulled him around the room as he shouted ‘kissy kissy’ at the top of his lungs. He was going to get back at the little brat later, but for now he was content sitting on the floor of the day care, arms around his boyfriend, watching his little brother raise hell as usual.

Of course, because brothers are difficult, and toddlers doubly so, as soon as they go home Taka shouts "Aniki and Ryu-Ni are kissy kissy!" and Hayato has to fend off his mom's questions. Kotaro lets it slip more quietly, but Saikawa definitely breaks out the red bean rice.

Okay so since I've made a small promise to myself to write more this year, and also to maybe expand this little corner of fandom as much as I can, I am open to taking prompts. I won't write anything that's ships an adult with a minor (I don't care what the age of consent is in Japan) or a similar age gap (i.e. teen with child), and I'm very uncomfortable writing smut, but anything else is good to go.

#gakuen babysitters #hayaryuu #kamitani hayato #kashima ryuuchi #school babysitters #fan fic #my fic

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