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morganski-19 · 5 months

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I Don't Know Which Way's Home

Chapter 2: Figuring Things Out

ao3 link, Part 1

cw: implied child abuse and grief

October 1986, One week prior

Julie wakes up to a loud bang followed by some crying. Followed by some yelling about being too loud from crying. She rolls over in the bed that isn’t hers and tries to fall back asleep, but when the blankets are yanked off of her, she’s forced to face reality.

“Get up you lazy shit,” Janice Radburn, her foster parent, mutters at her. She isn’t much of a parent, probably why she never had her own kids. But it was a fast placement and an empty bed, so she’s stuck with her.

Molly, one of the other foster kids, is sitting quietly on her bed, just looking at Julie when she sits up.

“What?” Julie grumbles.

“We’re supposed to be up by eight, they didn’t tell you that, but we are.”

Julie gives her an annoyed look. “It’s a Saturday.”

Molly just shrugs. “Just how it is.”

She bites the inside of her cheek, trying to bite back the words she really wants to say. Instead, she gets up, the old bed creaking with her weight loss, and heads to the bathroom. Already preparing to fight for it when she does.

Oliver runs into her, the other foster kid. He has a fresh bandaid across his knee, but that doesn’t stop him from running around like a lunatic. He apologizes softly before running down the hall again, another thump ricocheting from his bedroom.

The past few days have been, eventful, to say the least. If she wanted to be more realistic, fucking terrible would be the words she’d choose. She looks in the mirror, seeing the massive dark circles surrounding her still red-rimmed eyes.

A shower would be nice, scrubbing off all the weirdness of this house in the hopes that she’ll feel ok again. Crying in a place where she can do it and not be afraid of getting yelled at for being too loud. But she’ll still probably be yelled at for hogging the bathroom. She does it anyway, though, making sure to lock the door behind her.

When the stream of water hits her, everything breaks. Half-silent sobs rip from her throat as the tears stream down her face. She hates her life, she hates this home. She hates that tomorrow she’ll have to say goodbye to her mom forever, even though she’s already long gone.

Once she towels herself off, she slips on one of her mom’s old sweatshirts. It’s been glued to her body since that night, unable to take it off. If she closes her eyes and tries just enough, she can imagine it as her mom’s arms, her perfume still woven through the fabric. Faded from a little overuse, but still there. It mixes with the hurt to form a sense of comfort, that her mom is still there.

Someone bangs on the door. “Get out, you prick,” Mark Radburn yells from the other side, his grumpy personality seeping through the barrier. When she opens the door, she can’t even get the whole way out before he’s bounding past her, shoving her out with the door, muttering, “Bathroom hog.”

She shakes off the side that touched him and heads downstairs. The kitchen is a mess in what she assumes to be their normal. Beer bottles litter the countertops and stubbed-out cigarettes are thrown across the floor. The milk left out on the counter and a spilled bowl of cereal in a puddle on the floor. She’ll have to clean it up, she’s sure of it.

Grabbing an apple that’s surprisingly not mushy and a granola bar, she heads for the back door. When the coast is clear, she opens it as quietly as the squeaky hinges let her, and runs.

. . .

Present Day, October 1986

When Steve wakes up, he almost forgets the events of the previous night has happened. That it was all some weird dream breaking up his nightmare streak. But as he walks into the hallway and sees the guestroom door he normally leaves open shut, it all comes crashing back. Realization sinks through his body as he stares at the door.

He has a sister, a half-sister. His dick head of a dad knocked one of the many secretaries that he slept with and hid it. From him and his mom.

Betrayal fills his body as he walks down the stairs. How could he do this to him, to his mom? To Julie? Cheating was already unforgivable in his mind, but his mom put up with it for some reason. But to have a child with someone else. That might be the final straw to break.

He picks up the phone in his living room, letting the sleep fill his voice enough to feign sickness so he can get out of work. Keith puts up a bit of a fight but Steve wins, he always does. Robin will just hate him slightly because she’ll be left alone in the store on a Saturday with Keith who is incredibly unhelpful.

Heading to the kitchen, he starts a pot of coffee. He’s not quite sure what Julie likes to eat, but he’s never met a kid who doesn’t like pancakes. So he grabs the mix and makes the batter, preheating the pan and plopping the batter into it when it’s ready. He makes some plain and sprinkles chocolate chips in other ones. For options. And because Robin likes them.

Steve pours himself a cup of coffee when it stops dripping, adding in some creamer. He turns around to grab a plate to put the pancakes on when Julie walks into the room.

“I think those are burning,” she states, suspiciously eying the stove behind him.

“Shit,” he says when he turns around, quickly using the spatula to get them off of the pan. He takes a breath, letting out his slight frustration before pouring more batter into the pan. “There’s coffee if you want any, mugs are in that cabinet. Or there’s tea or hot chocolate in the pantry. And there’s orange juice in the fridge.”

“That’s a lot of options.”

Steve shrugs. “I know a lot of picky people.”

Julie walks over to the cabinet he pointed at, uncertainty in her movements. Not like he blames her, she’s been in this house for twelve hours and talked to him less than that. It’d be unrealistic of him to think that one conversation would be enough to make this not awkward, but he’s trying. She pours some coffee from the pot, following Steve’s direction of where the sugar and creamer are.

“I thought you were still asleep,” Julie admits, sitting on one of the chairs at the island. “Thought a heard snoring.”

He snorts. “That would be Robin.”

They sit in silence while he makes the rest of the pancakes, successfully not burning another one. He sets the plate on the center of the island, taking the seat farthest from Julie so he doesn’t crowd her.

Thankfully the silence is cut by Robin entering the room, still half asleep and tripping over her own feet.

“Morning,” she mutters, immediately making her way to the coffee pot. She steals a pancake on her way, eating it with her hands.

“There’s something called a plate, you know?” he snides as she gives him the finger.

“This one’s burnt,” she says with a slight gag. Steve hears Julie snicker and decides to let it go.

“I called out of work.”

Robin groans. “You’re leaving me alone with Keith, Steven. Keith. He is going to stand there and watch a movie that is not appropriate for the children coming in today while eating a bag of neverending Cheetos, getting his dust all over himself and the movies, while trying to hit on me as much as he can.”

“I told you if he’s given you a problem I’ll talk to him.”

She rolls her eyes. “And get both of us fired, no thanks.”

“Or finally annoy him enough to quit.”

Robin snorts while grabbing another pancake. “Like he’ll give up his neverending movie powers.”

The front door rattles before it slams into the wall and then shuts again. “Steve,” Eddie yells into the hallway, finding his way to the kitchen. “Oh good, you’re not dead.”

“The hell did you tell him last night?”

“That you had a migraine so we canceled movie night. I said you didn’t have to come over, dumbass.”

Eddie walks up to Steve and grabs his head. “I had to make sure that this pretty little head was ok,” he says mockingly while squishing his cheeks. “Lord knows he’s hit it enough to be concerning. Ooh, pancakes.”

He reaches over and grabs a pancake, eating it with his hands like Robin. “You both know where the plates are.”

“Why dirty a dish when I have two perfectly good hands?” It’s at this moment when Eddie finally sees Julie sitting at the island, looking way too interested in this whole interaction. “Lawson?”

“Hey, Eddie,” Julie says, slightly confused. “How’ve you been?”

Steve can see Eddie visibly trying to connect the dots. “Pretty good considering … everything. I’m sorry, what are you doing here?”

“You know Julie?” Robin asks, eating the last pancake.

“Yeah lived down the street from me back when I lived in the trailer. How do you two know her?”

Steve glances over at Julie and sees her tense up at the question. He would feel wrong about telling someone about this without her permission, even if it is his secret now too. She looks at him and he tries to motion with his head over to Eddie as some form of a question. But when she gives him a confused glare that makes him feel like an idiot, he gives up.

He decides it’s probably better to tell him. Eddie is someone who knows how to keep a secret, and Steve trusts him. So he can know. But he definitely needs to have a conversation with Julie about how and who they want to tell about this in the future.

If they decide to try and become some sort of friends, maybe family, that is.

“Can I talk to you?” Steve asks standing up and ushering Eddie out of the room.

“What the hell man? It doesn’t have to be a whole thing, I just wanted to know why she’s here.”

Steve shuts the door to the side room behind them. “Yeah, that’s what I’m about to tell you.”

Eddie looks at him confused. “Is this something serious? I thought you just adopted another high schooler.”

“Not upside down serious, but yeah kinda.” Steve takes a breath, trying not to feel weird about the way Eddie’s looking at him right now. He doesn’t have time to feel weird about two things at once. “Full disclosure, I didn’t know who Julie was until yesterday. She came to the house and told me that her mom knew my dad. She used to be his secretary, they had an affair, and then came Julie.”

Eddie’s eyes are blown as wide as they can possibly be. “Holy shit. What the fuck? I need a second. Jesus Christ. How are you not freaking out more about this right now?”

“Who says I’m not?”

Eddie goes to sit on one of the chairs, Steve goes to take the one next to him. “You have a sister.”

“I have a sister.” Each time he says those words it becomes more of a fact than a surprise. “I have no idea what I’m doing, or how to do it. I’m trying to stay calm about everything but,” Steve takes another deep breath, still feeling like it isn’t quite enough. “My dad was a cheater, I’ve known that for a long time but this. This is a whole new angle of shit that I don’t know how to deal with.”

“How can you? Siblings don’t just come popping up out of nowhere, especially not as old as she is.” Eddie turns to look at him, tucking one of his legs underneath him. “Wayne heard about her mom from one of our old neighbors. Is that why she knows?”

Steve shakes his head. “Her mom told her sometime before the accident. She’s been in foster care ever since.”

“You have that look on your face,” Eddie says with a soft gaze.

“What look?”

“The look that you get when you want to help people. You want to help her.”

Steve leans back in the chair. “I do. She looked so scared when I offered to drive her back to her foster home last night. Said she didn’t like it there.”

“I was placed in foster care once before Wayne officially took me in,” Eddie admits, playing with a loose thread on his jeans. “It wasn’t the greatest. From what I’ve heard, most of the placements are pretty good, but there are some people out there who are just in it for the money and can be giant pieces of shit. I’m not saying that she’s in one of those homes, but I’m not saying she isn’t either. What I can say, is that she’s probably missing her mom a hell of a lot right now. They were really close from what I could tell, and losing someone like that hurts, a lot.”

Steve remembers Eddie mentioning once that his mom died when he was little. He never brought it up again and neither did Steve, not wanting to linger on tough topics. But even though it was so long ago, the pain is still there in his voice, just slightly. But Steve still notices it.

He reaches across, placing his hand on top of Eddie’s. In a comforting way, not to mean anything. But Eddie still sighs a bit at the touch and turns his hand to hold Steve’s.

“Just be patient with her, ok. She’s a good kid. Be patient with yourself too. This might not be some big alternate dimension life-changing shit, but it’s still real. You’re allowed to let yourself feel whatever you’re feeling about this.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Robin.”

“No, I’ve been spending too much time with you. Only way to know that you think about everyone else except for yourself. Promise me you’ll take a moment to think of yourself.”

Steve squeezes Eddie’s hand. “I’ll try.”

“Not a promise, but I’ll take it.”

He figures it’s probably been long enough that they’ve left Julie alone with Robin. Not like leaving her alone with him would be better, he still knows nothing about her. But when he reenters the kitchen, Eddie follows behind him, Robin’s not there.”

“Where’d Robin go?”

“To change,” Julie says with a shrug, picking at the last of her food.

Robin comes barreling down the stairs with her backpack, which she throws at Eddie while heading to the sink to fill her water bottle. “The fuck was that for?” Eddie asks with a wince.

“You two took too long talking, I’m late.” She downs the rest of her coffee and places her mug in the sink. “Come on, you’re taking me to work,” she shoves Eddie towards the door, not bothering to do it again when he doesn’t move that much.

“See ya, Julie.” Eddie heads for the door, throwing Robin’s backpack over his shoulder. Steve follows him. “She looks like you. I didn’t notice that before, but she does,” he whispers to Steve while Robin puts her shoes on.

Robin gasps. “Oh my god, she does.” She stands up and grabs her bag from Eddie. “Good luck, don’t scare her off, don’t be too awkward, and just talk to her like a normal person.”

“Thanks for the advice,” he deadpans.

“Love you, dingus. Bye.” She leaves the door open for Eddie on her way out.

Eddie stands with his hand on the doorknob before looking back at Steve. “Not to sound pushy or anything but, are we still on for later or not?”

“I’m not sure,” Steve shrugs. “Maybe, just not what we planned it to be.”

“Munson, move your ass,” Robin yells, hanging out of the passenger side car of the door.

“I’m coming, Jesus. Call me later ok. I don’t care if we have to cancel, you have other things going on right now.”

Steve nods. “I will, promise.”

Eddie smiles at him, making Steve’s stomach do a flip he’s still not quite used to. “That you promise to, huh? Talk to you later, Steve.”

. . .

Julie sits at the island, not quite sure why she’s still here. She’s still not exactly sure why she came here yesterday, not even fully believing the excuse she gave Steve. Sure he had a right to know that his dad had another kid. But maybe it would have been better to do it in a letter. That way he could decide if he wanted to find her, instead of her finding him.

It’s still weird to her, that Steve Harrington was her brother. She didn’t know much about him other than school rumors. By the time she got to high school, he had already stepped out of the popularity spotlight. She remembers hearing about the King who fell, but after seeing him in person around the people he seems to be friends with, that doesn’t look like it.

To be honest, everything she could have possibly known about him was shattered the moment Eddie Munson walked through the door. He was in her circle, not his. They would have never interacted in school. But now that she thinks about it, she remembers seeing Steve a few times at the trailer park visiting the Mayfeilds, especially around spring break. Maybe they got to know each other then.

A part of her wants to leave, get the burden of her off of his plate. He didn’t have to know her just because they were related, neither did she. That wasn’t her plan. The plan, no matter how little she actually thought about it, was to find him, tell him, and leave. But then he had to offer to let her stay the night.

Normally, she wouldn’t have taken it, but it was too good to give up. There was someone else in the house so it wasn’t just the two of them, and it gave her an excuse to stay away from that hell house as long as possible. And he seemed like a good person, he was nothing but nice to her so far. But nice was sometimes a facade, so she kept her guard up.

But if Eddie Munson was his friend, maybe Julie could afford to let her guard down a little. Just a little bit.

Steve walks back into the kitchen after walking Robin and Eddie out. “Are you done with that?” he asks, pointing to the plate in front of her. There’s a half-eaten pancake on it, even though she only grabbed two. He doesn’t say anything about it, though.

“Oh, yeah, thanks.” She slides the plate forward and he takes it away, putting it with his own in the sink.

How is she even going to go about this, getting to know him? She hates getting to know new people. Just stating the same five facts over and over again until maybe there was a similarity between them and that’s it. Is she just going to share her favorite color and leave?

Something about her doesn’t want to. Something wants to stay and try to find some sort of connection with Steve. Whether that be acquaintances or otherwise. He’s the only family she has left, and something about that fact makes her never want to leave.

“So,” Steve starts slowly, leaning on the island. “I’m going to be honest, I’m not exactly sure where to start.”

“Me neither,” She admits, anxiously picking at her thumb. It’s a nervous habit she’s never seemed to break, sometimes picking at it enough for them to bleed. Her mom always tried to stop her but it never worked.

Uncomfortable silence hangs in the air for what feels like forever, but is probably just a minute, maybe two. “Eddie said you lived down the street from him,” Steve says, breaking their silence.

“Yeah, across the street and two doors down.” She tries to think of what to say, as if it has to have any meaning behind it. But maybe if they just get talking, that’s all that matters. “We didn’t talk much, just a few times at potlucks and things. But when I first got to high school, he showed me around, drove me when I missed the bus and didn’t want to walk home.”

Steve laughs. “Yeah that sounds like him. Surprised he didn’t try to ‘bring you into his flock’ or whatever he calls them.”

“He might have, but DND isn’t really my thing. I like writing my own stories, not playing in someone else’s.”

“You like to write,” Steve asks, walking around to sit on one of the chairs, turning to face her.

Julie nods, bringing one of her legs up so she can sit on it to face him better. “Short stories, sometimes poetry, but I’m not great at making things rhyme. It’s fun.”

“That’s cool, I’ve never been good at writing like that. Or at all.”

“What were you good at? Or are, I guess.”

Slight shock quickly covers his face, like he’s surprised that she asked him a question about himself. “I used to play basketball in high school, and I was on the swim team. I was decent at best, but I liked it. One of the kids I babysit started playing basketball last year, so I’ve been playing with him sometimes. Kinda forgot how much I liked it until then.”

“You babysit, like look over other people’s kids?” She didn’t pin him as the babysitting type.

“Well, I say babysit but it’s not really babysitting. Like, they’re old enough to take care of themselves and everything, but we’ve been through some stuff together so I like to keep an eye on them. They’re kinda like the family I wished I had.”

The family he wishes he had, said like he barely had a family at all. She thinks back to the lack of family pictures in the house. With all of this wall space, it’s weird for them to be left blank when they could be filled. Poster families are supposed to have posters showing off how good they are. But the walls, the house, stay vacant. And the way Steve talks about these kids, it seems to have been like that for a long time.

Giant houses are nice, but empty all they do is sit there and show off the wrong type of wealth. Loneliness almost seeps through the walls when she notices the lack of life. Nothing to give it character, the only person leaving traces behind is Steve.

Last night she was jealous that Steve could live in such a big house when she lived in a trailer. But she’d take that over and over again if it meant she wouldn’t be alone.

“You must love them,” Julie finally says.

Steve smiles, it’s probably the first time she’s seen it and it wasn’t fake. “As much as they annoy the hell out of me, I do.”

“Robin seemed nice.” He seems to talk more when it’s about other people, so she changes the topic to her. “You guys seem close.”

“We are. And before you ask if we’re dating, we’re not.”

“I was questioning that a little, but I thought it would be rude to ask.”

He shrugs. “People ask me it pretty much every day. One particular person specifically. You can ask me anything though, I’m pretty much an open book.”

Before she gets the chance to think of something else, someone knocks on the front door. Steve looks both confused and annoyed before he gets up to go see who it is. She hears them talking for a minute or two before Steve walks back into the room with a sorry expression, a man in a police uniform behind him.

“Julie, this is Chief Hopper.”

“I’m here to take you back, kid,” Hopper interrupts.

Coldness fills Julie up as she thinks about that place. Loud noises through thin walls, insults being thrown around, two kids she doesn’t know that she has to take care of. Just so Janice and Mark can get drunk off their asses from the pay and never lift a finger for anything about them. It’s only a matter of time before things get worse, she can tell. It’s the same behavior she’s seen with every boyfriend her mom has ever had.

“I-I don’t want to.”

Hopper steps toward her and takes off his hat, placing it on the island. “I’m sure you don’t. But they are your guardians for the time being and called you in as a missing kid, so you have to go back.”

She looks over at Steve but is met with just a silent apology. That he’s giving up. She really shouldn’t be mad but she is. He let her stay because she said she didn’t like it there, and now he’s just willing to let her go back. Without a word to try and stop it.

Getting up from the chair, making it squeak against the floor that is probably way too fucking expensive, she heads upstairs to grab her things. Feet stomping on the stairs like they have a mind of their own. She’s not even sure where the anger she feels is directed. But she can’t help to think it’s at herself for thinking she might actually be able to have some sort of family again.

. . .

When Julie leaves the room, Steve is just left there defeated. He tried to say something, but Hopper said there was no way out of it. She spent the night away from her foster house and they called it in, she had to go back.

“Can you explain to me why she’s here?” Hopper asks acusingly.

“They’d have to have told you if you knew to find her here.”

Hopper looks at the ceiling with a deep sigh. “Just told me she’d probably be here, not why. You’re not in any trouble, I know you wouldn’t try anything. So can you just please tell me why you have a random sixteen-year-old girl in your house.”

“She’s my sister,” Steve sighs. “My dad had an affair with her mom and then he paid her to keep it quiet. Julie told me everything last night.”

“Well, shit. That’s, something.”

Steve scoffs. “Yeah. Is there really no way she can stay here, even if it’s just for the rest of the day.”

“Look kid,” Hopper sighs. “I know you like to help the kids, but this is a lot different than that. Those parents trust you to look after them because they know you, these people don’t. And I’m not so sure they ever will. The fact is that you just learned about all of this yesterday and jumped into everything headfirst. Take some time, think about it.”

“I can’t just go around and pretend that none of this happened. I want to get to know her, Hop.”

“And I never said that you couldn’t. Just no more overnight stays and make sure she gets back by curfew. Don’t make me have to come back here again.”

Julie slams the door of the guest room before she comes back downstairs. Hopper gives Steve a sympathetic look before picking his hat back up and heading to the front door, Steve following after.

“Julie, I’m sorry, I tried-,” Steve tries to explain.

“Just save it, I know.” She looks at him with a cold glare that only fills him with shame. “Nice meeting you, Steve.”

Hopper opens the door, letting Julie go out first. “Good luck with that,” he says before shutting the door behind him.

. . .

October 1986, Two Weeks Prior

When Julie wakes up, her mom’s not there. Not like that’s unusual, sometimes she works early morning shifts at the diner before heading to her secretary job. She normally tells her about that, but last night she said nothing. Or maybe she did in her rush out the door to her late-night shift.

Why would she work a late night and an early morning though? She’s never done it before. And considering the tips are shit and the pay is worse, she wouldn’t put herself through that. So where is she?

Julie checked around the trailer again, making sure the cot was still in the living room and that no one was in the bathroom. Checks outside to see if her mom’s car was there, and around back to make sure it wasn’t there either. Not a trace of her mother to be found anywhere.

Going back into the house, she dials the number of the diner to check if her mom’s there. One waiter answers, saying he hasn’t seen her all morning.

Worry fills Julie, this isn’t like her mom. Not anymore. She doesn’t go out at night anymore. Promising Julie that she wouldn’t. Her mom had broken a few promises in the past, but this was not one that she would.

At least that’s what Julie hopes.

An hour later, her mom is still nowhere to be seen. She calls the office she works at to see if she showed up for her shift, nothing. As she’s dialing 911 to see if they can go around different bars to try and find her, she hears a car pulling up in front of her trailer. Followed by two doors slamming shut.

Her heart is beating out of her chest as she goes to answer the door when they knock, opening to find two police officers waiting there with solemn looks on their faces.

“Hello, miss. My name is Officer Powell and this is Officer Callahan. Are you Julie Lawson, Rebecca Lawson’s daughter.?”

“Yes,” she responds with a shaky voice.

Powell and Callahan share a glance before turning back to her. “Could we come in, we have some unfortunate news about your mom.”

Her heart drops as she lets them in, already planning to hear the worst.

“You might want to sit down for this,” Callahan says, pulling over one of the kitchen chairs to sit in, making himself at home.

“Last night, police were called to a motor vehicle accident scene over on Oak Street. A driver ran off the road and hit a tree. They identified her as your mom. She was rushed to the hospital, but as of this morning, we are sorry to say she passed.”

Tears flood Julie’s eyes as she tries to blink them back, but can’t. They fall down her face as her mind races to catch up to reality. The room blurs and she can’t hear anything over the beating of her own heart. She feels as if her soul has left her body, watching her from the outside instead of in.

“We are so sorry, Julie,” Powell continues. “We have no idea how you must be feeling right now, but if you would like to talk to a counselor about this, we can help arrange that for you.”

Julie gapes, trying to say something but nothing will come out. She shuts her mouth and swallows, trying to calm herself down enough to say something. “What, what will happen to me?” she asks with a trembling voice.

“You’ll be placed in child protective services, they’ll try and find some family for you to stay with or find you a foster home,” Callahan explains.

“We know that this is a lot for you to take in right now. But we need you to go and pack a bag. You can come back in a few days to get the rest of your things, but you need to come with us. We’ll give you some space while you pack, take as long as you need.”

“Just not too long,” Callahan interrupts.

“Phil,” Powell sighs, glaring at him. “Don’t listen to him, take as long as you need and meet us outside when you're ready.”

Powell stands, pulling Callahan up and ushering him out of the door. He shuts it gently behind him and Julie can hear him chastizing Callahan behind it.

Julie leans back on the couch, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, attempting not to break just there. But she does. Tears stream down her face as her breaths become labored and shaky. Her hand comes to cover her mouth as she sobs, covering up her pain.

Her mom is gone. The only family, the only life she’s ever known. The person who was there for her no matter what. The person who knows her better than anyone else in the entire world. Taken from her without warning.

And now Julie is left alone.

Part 3

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#steddie #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #julie lawson #original female character #secret sibling au #fic #steddie fic #stranger things fic #steve harrington and julie lawson are siblings #steve's dad is a raging piece of shit #cw implied child abuse #tw implied child abuse #minor character death #tw grief #cw grief

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dragoneyejewellery · 10 months

Note

For Alec 📀

[a memory from the first person. Alec is playing with Flashfire, the two kicking a ball between them in increasingly elaborate ways, Flashfire noticeably concentrating so as not to set the ball on fire.

Alec’s phone rings from his back pocket suddenly and he startles, before gesturing ‘one moment’ to Flashfire and digging his phone out, frowning slightly at the unfamiliar number.

He shrugs and accepts, pressing the phone to his ear and saying ‘hello?’

‘Is this Alec Sawyer?’

‘Uhh, who’s asking?’

‘This is the Paldean Pokémon League. Challenger Trace Sawyer has put you down as our first point of contact.’

‘Oh. Oh! They were gonna do the elite four today, weren’t they? Oh, my arc, did they win? Are they a champion? Actually, wait, don’t tell me, I wanna hear it from them- ’

‘I’m afraid that isn’t why we’re calling.’

‘O-oh? What… what happened?’

‘*deep sigh* We have found some video footage from a camera stationed by Area Zero that shows at 23:47 last night, Trace Sawyer unfortunately fell into Area Zero whilst attempting to administer aid to an injured Garchomp. Due to the nature of Area Zero and the danger it poses, we cannot issue a Search and Rescue attempt, however given the height from which they fell and the lack of further communication…’

The placid voice of the caller gradually fades, overcome by a sort of ringing in Alec’s ears. Cold numbness is spreading through his limbs, and the hand holding the phone shakes. Flashfire has noticed something is wrong, hesitantly approaching her trainer, trying to figure out what has happened.

Alec lurches suddenly, and vomits.

The memory ends.]

#pkmn irl #pokeblogging #pokemon irl #vomit mention cw #tw implied death #implied sibling death tw

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thoutisashark · 2 months

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Accidental Courtship :3

Accidental courtship

ft: Savanaclaw, Octavinella

cw: possible minor spelling errors (blame the dyslexia), established relationship, swearing, implied fem reader

Penguins have this adorable courtship ritual where the male gives the female a smooth pebble, if the female is impressed by the pebble she accepts the gift and mates with the male

I know that jade, Floyd, and Azul aren't penguins, but i thought it would be so cute if their s/o gave them a pebble and basically proposed but not knowing what it meant.

And for the beast-men (Leona, Jack, Ruggie) i thought it would be cute if there was a special beast-men way of courtship, I couldn't think of anything though, but then i remembered that for a lot of mammals (and animals in general) grooming is a form of bonding, so what if licking was a form of courtship?!?!

ENJOY

Savanaclaw

Leona: he awoke from his nap when he felt a pair of hands running through his hair, he sniffed the air, realizing it was just his s/o he closed his eyes once again, surrendering to the comforting feeling of your hands, he hated to admit it but he loved when you played with his hair, it was something he looked forward to and expected. what he didn't expect however was the sudden wet feeling that graced his cheek his eyes shot open and his head snapped in your direction

"so soon? at least wait till we graduate"

your so confused, he realizes that you probably dont know what you just did

"for beast-men, your lick was you asking me to marry you you dumb herbivore"

he wont admit it but his heart was pounding in his chest

Jack: he had finished his classes for the day and was walking around the campus grounds, when he spotted you his tail started to wag a bit, he attempted to stop, annoyed that he was giving away how he felt. he walked over to you, he wrapped his arm around your waist pulling you closer to him you smiled up at him, kissing his cheek, he smiled at you and walked with you to the ramshackle dorm, you guys sat in the guest room you had been working on you had been pretty bored all day and wanted to do something to make you laugh, why not lick your boyfriend see what his silly reaction would be, little did you know the implications behind this supposedly innocent action. as soon as your tongue brushed his cheek he was off to sofa and staring at you in shock, he moved so fast that your tongue was still hanging out of you mouth

"i-im not ready"

his voice was shaky and his tail was wagging at a super sonic spread

"i mean you need to meet my parents and my siblings, and i dont have any money, i mean were still in high school, marriage is a very large leap"

you were so fucking confused Marriage? when you asked what he was talking about he looked at you confused

"you licked me... you want to marry me...right?"

you blushed and told him that in your world its just a weird thing to do. he sighed in

"so no marriage then, good, i love you but im not ready for that yet... try again in a few years"

he winked, his tail giving away his feelings

Ruggie: you had gotten some powdered donuts from Sam's store earlier and you were super excited to eat them, you rushed to your dorm hoping to avoid the food thief you called a boyfriend but it was useless, he could probly smell them from 3 miles away, he saw you running smelt the sweet scent of donuts and took off after you, he caught up quickly, snatching the box from you hands

"watcha got here shihihi"

he held the box out of your reach and took a donut out, he quickly shoved it into his mouth as you pouted, you loved him to death but god was he annoying sometimes you noticed how he had gotten some of the powdered sugar on his nose and an idea of revenge sprung into your mind, you grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him down to you

"you gonna kiss me~" he teased you, he wrapped an arm around you resting a hand on the small of your back while his other held the donut box.

you licked his nose, he tensed up, his eyes widened and he stumbled back almost falling over

"i-i dont- i mean-" he turned around, he grabbed his ears and pressed them down, trying to calm himself down, he had never felt so flustered before, but could you blame him? his s/o just asked for his hand in marriage "i accept but... so soon?"

you looked at him confused, he took a moment, realizing that what is a marriage proposal for beast-men might not be the same for humans, but everyone was aware of the tradition, then it clicked, you weren't from here, you had no idea what you had just done. his blush was still there, and to be honest he was dissipated, he licked you cheek "that is a proposal for marriage" he admits, looking away embarrassed, he shoved the donut box back into your hands and quickly walked away mumbling a quick "i love you" his tail was small, but it was wagging as he zoomed away from you.

Octavinelle (penguin esc courtship)

Floyd: he hated working at the cafe, it was so boring, why would he work when he could be with his little shrimpy? he found you outside of the ramshackle dorm, you were on your hands and knees digging round a pile of rocks

"shrimpy~" he lifted you up and hugged you from behind "what are you doing?"

he asked, examining the rocks you held in your hands, you didn't answer, instead you picked on of the rocks you had and handed it to him, it was smooth, and had a faint blue undertone to it, he squealed and snatched it out of your hand, he wrapped his arms around you, squeezing you till you felt like you were about to burst, he kissed you passionately before skipping off to tell his brother and Azul, you just stood there, confused as to why your boyfriend was so happy about the rock you gave him, i mean sure it was cool but was it that exciting for him? a couple hours later there was a knock on the door to the ramshackle dorm, you opened the door and say Floyd standing there frowning slightly

"do you know what a rock means"

you shook your head and you swear it looked like he was about to cry

"so you weren't asking me to marry you?"

you shook your head again, now understanding why he was so upset, you hugged him and kissed his cheek promising him to marry him one day, as soon as he heard that he was happy again, hugging and squeezing you all night long.

Jade: he was observing the mushroom he was growing, they had a strange mutation that he hadn't seen before and was eager to study, he was writing down the differences and comparing them to known mutations when suddenly you burst into his room clenching something in your hand, he turned to you smiling at you, he closed his mushroom guide and walked over to you, kissing your forehead and ruffling your hair, you hold out your hand and show a small smooth rock to him, he blushed, hugging you tightly

"are you aware of what your asking me?" he asked, his voice shacking lightly as he hugged you tighter, part of him wished you meant what mer-people mean when they give rocks, but he knows you arent used to the tradtions and culture in this world

he pulled away slightly and when he saw your confused face he smiled sadly "in merfolk culture you asked me to marry you" he chuckled as you blushed "i want to be the one to give you the rock dear" he mumbled into your hair he pulled away caressing your face before picking you up and taking you to the couch to cuddle.

Azul: he was in his office doing paper work and for the cafe, he was stressed, his hand was starting to cramp from the amout of writing he had been doing. the door to his office opened and you entered, his eyes lit up as he say you, your presence always made him feel better.

"hello my love"

he smiled at you softly, he open his arms for a hug and you wasted no time crawling into his lap and hugging him tightly, he kissed your shoulder, you reached into your pocket and handed him a pretty rock you had found earlier, his faced flushed with a blush

"m-my love? i- i mean y-yes ill marry you, but at least meat my family first, do you have a venue in mind? a dress? i can help you look- wait your not proposing? oh... you dont know do you"

as disappointed as he was that he wasn't going to marry you he chuckled and laughed

"my beloved your little rock was a proposal of marriage"

he smirked at you, watching as you face as you realized what you had done, he kissed you shoulder and cheek again

"just know love.... i will say yes, i will always say yes to you"

a couple days later when you walk into his office you she the rock you gave him on the shelf behind his desk, it was in a glass container, when you asked Azul all he said was

"its special to me, i wish to keep it forever"

End notes:

i had no idea what to do for leona and i think its pretty obvious, but i had fun writing this! its my first time writing for twst characters and i think i did ok... i hope

I am accepting requests :)

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highpri3stess · 1 month

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Monsters: Mikey Sano x Reader x Izana Kurokawa

Chapter 4: The Calm

Pairing: Izana Kurokawa x fem reader x Manjiro sano

series summary: your grevious sin was emma standing up for you and now, you were going to pay the heavy price of destroying their perfect family dynamic

chapter summary: emma decided you needed a break from all the stress of life and takes you to her home for a vacation and for a moment, you forget that reality is often disappointing .

word count: 12.5k

cw: DARK CONTENT, nsfw, male masturbation, obsssession, stalking, blackmail, academic fatigue, poverty, misogyny, objectification, one mention of unwanted pregnancy, implied drugging, age gap relationship, fluff to heavy angst, minor character death, murder, mental break down, panic attack, gang related violence, gun violence, metions of drug related business (c*caine), dubious consent, slight manipulation, thigh grinding, mutual masturbation, fingering (fem. receiving), jerking off, nipple sucking, praise kink, squirting, proper aftercare.

masterlist||chapter 3||chapter 5

MIKEY never really understood what being in love entailed.

He knew what familiar love was, the way Shinichiro treated him and his siblings with so much gentility and grace, even falling into the darkest depths of pure sin just to make sure that his siblings were fed at least. Emma waking him up in the morning and dragging him around just so that they could attend fairs together, always supporting him. Hell, even Izana could be kind, taking care of him anytime he got sick and covering up for some of his stupid pranks.

He knew what friendship was too; Takemitchi’s unwavering belief in Mikey that he could be the best. Draken’s honesty and care. Keisuke’s pure love for him despite his obvious faults. Sanzu’s unwavering loyalty.

But what he’s feeling right now… what he was experiencing right now is alien.

An all consuming passion that has his mouth dry and hands sweaty. Constant thoughts occupy his brain, no matter the situation. His heart beating faster and faster until he was sure it would burst out of his chest.

And at the center of it all was you.

It was like a war was going on in his head. He was disgusted by you- frustrated at how kind you are. You’re kind to everybody and it’s not even about who deserves it or who doesn’t anymore, it’s the fact that your grace was extended for everyone. Hinata whom you barely knew and who was obviously jealous of your friendship with Emma -because she told him about it. Mitsuya who despite his infatuation with you - still ignored you at first and refused to tell you the messed up shit his so called friend did. Draken with his ever rising jealousy when it came to you, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

They were all hypocrites. Every single one of them and yet you still hang out with them.

It boiled his blood. Here he was being outright honest with you, not hiding how he felt inside. Mikey didn’t want to lie and pretend that he didn’t hold some resentment for you so he showed his true colors, to let you see the true him. He was being vulnerable with you, peeling off the fake persona to show you how he really feels about you, something he never does.

He showed you the truth. Things he’d never show anyone because he thought you would understand him. That you would get the message.

And what do you do in return?

You throw his vulnerability right back in his face by fucking avoiding him.

He groaned against his pillow, pressing his face down to avoid anyone hearing him moan your name, knees pressed on his king sized bed, hunched over with his night trousers pulled down to reveal his cock- slightly darker than his skin, an angry red tip with hot pre leaking from it, curved a little to the left. His hands worked in tandem to the rotten images of you, face down, ass up while he fucked you hard from behind- jerking his hips into the stupid fleshlight that Izana had gifted him for his last birthday, wishing it was your tight pussy he was rutting his aching cock into.

“Ngh mhghh (name) fuck, need your pussy so bad. S-shit”

Mikey nearly felt ashamed of himself. Reducing him to this whining pathetic mess that was unable to cum without thinking about you. Look at the way you treated him now; avoiding him whenever he tried to walk up to you after your classes and following the back door. Only giving him one line answers any time he tried to talk to you when you were with Emma. Visibly deflating around him and stepping away when he was close to you.

He did nothing wrong to you! All the times you both hooked up was what you wanted. You always jumped into his arms albeit with a little prompting from him. Why were you behaving like this? Didn’t girls like being eaten out? Why were you so hard to understand?

Beads of sweat rolled down his face to his neck, staining his nightshirt caught between his teeth. His abdomen flexed slightly as his mind started floating towards lustful images of him punishing you for ignoring him. Your tight cunt wrapped around his cock, hands tied behind your back while he fucked into you, making you watch as you moaned like a pornstar. His wrist worked up his cock faster, picking up the pace as the fleshlight sucked his cock deep, bringing him closer to the edge.

“Ah, ah (name)” he muffled, his brain growing fuzzy with arousal as he thrusted messily into the fleshlight, unable to think straight as he reached the edge, his balls tightening at his impending release. “Ah, (name), (name)-” he whimpered over and over again, tears spilling from his eyes as he fucked into his fleshlight fast and hard, wishing it was your pussy.

“(Name), (n-name)- fuck”

His hips stuttered as he gave one last hard thrust and came hard, rutting his hips to ride out his orgasm as ropes of cum splattered into the fleshlight. With a groan he pulled out, revealing a trail of cum oozing from the sex toys, dripping down the lips along with his slick, sensitive cock slowly growing limp.

His breathing was heavy, trying to regain his full senses again as he collapsed on his bed, tired. It was clear that this unnatural affinity towards you would drive him down a long winded road that would bring upon impending doom.

That is, if he hadn’t started already.

“YOU’RE not performing as well as you ought to, Is there a problem?”

You could think of a myriad of answers to professor Hanabi’s question, but all of them would sound unbelievable to anyone with a good head on their shoulders.

You didn’t know where to even start as you stood in front of the older man. Maybe it was the crushing feeling of guilt that followed you around, flashing the images of your sinful act before your very eyes each time you closed them to sleep. Or the invasive dreams when you do manage to sleep off, the Sano brothers taking advantage of you in different, shameful ways until you’re screaming awake, tears rolling down your eyes.

It’s apparent your condition was far worse than before. Concealers could hide your eye bags, but they couldn’t hide the slump in your shoulders or the flash of fear whenever you lock eyes with any of the Sano brothers, especially Mikey.

And Mikey is not helping matters either. It was almost like he was everywhere you went, following you like your shadow and trying to speak to you. You’ve tried making it clear that you did not want anything to do with him by your actions, but it seemed that each time you pushed him away, he would come back in ten folds. He had somehow gotten your number and no matter how many times you blocked him, he would always, always find a way to get your line.

When he realized calling wouldn’t work, he resorted to texting you everyday. Asking you things like “How was school?” “Who was that boy you were laughing with?” Or even threatening to release your nudes if you block him again, before showing pictures of you in the shower that you were sure you did not take yourself.

It meant he snuck into your room again. Or long before that. You don’t know. It didn’t matter.

You don’t understand his behavior. He’s already talking to Emma and everything is fine now, why is he bothering you? At least Izana barely acknowledges your presence and has left you alone, so why can’t Mikey do the same?

You had used the last of your saved up money to change the locks soon after that message, leaving you nearly penniless. You were starving, surviving on barely a meal and lack of sleep while looking for a new job. You had sold off some of your old jewelry that people liked because they were ‘vintage’ and still it wasn’t enough to help you with anything.

With all these happening to you, it was a no brainer as to why school was the last thing on your mind right now.

Your gaze casted down to the big F written on your script. You had thought at least your make up test would be good enough for a C with how stressed you were, but apparently, you were wrong about that one too.

It didn’t make any sense, you had Hinata and Emma mark your question paper when you came out and they said you did well. So how did this happen?

And of all courses it had to be the most difficult of them all with an equally difficult lecturer, who happened to be the Dean of the English studies and Language department; professor Daniel Hanabi.

“I-i don’t understand professor-” you started, about to say the words ‘I did everything right’ but quickly stopped yourself. Professor Hanabi was a strict man who prided himself in being correct every time. Assuming that you did everything right would mean that he was wrong and would only get him angry with you, reducing your chances at any form of negotiation. Instead, you changed the tune of the conversation. “- I thought I was prepared-”

“You cannot keep assuming you are prepared for anything, Ms. (Last name).” He hissed, silencing you immediately. You bowed your head in embarrassment as the blonde haired man started tearing at you. “How do you assume you are well prepared for a course, my course specifically? It is either you are or you’re not and looking at this excuse of a test score, even with all the time I graciously gave you after your sick day, you still failed. And you know why you failed? It’s because you’re a moron! A bimbo with nothing in that head of yours-”

You stayed silent as the man continued barking at you, tuning out his hurtful words with every curse and insult thrown in your face. You bit back any form of tears so that he wouldn’t find another reason to shout at you.

“- everyday I spend my time trying to impart knowledge onto you people and in turn you all disappoint me. What do you have to say for yourself?”

You took a deep breath, holding back tears of humiliation as you clasped your hands together. You knew the best thing to do was to tolerate his insults so that he could give you another chance. “I apologize, Professor Hanabi.” You began with a humble voice. “It was my fault. You gave me a lot of time to study and I failed to deliver. But please sir, you have to let me try again! I can do better. Please!”

The room fell silent again after your plea, the only noticeable noise being the whirling of the AC in the dean's office. A lump began to form in your throat at the tense atmosphere, wondering what next he was going to say.

“Fine.” He said, making you sigh in relief, one good thing finally happening in your life for the first time in months now. “I’ll let you retake the test next week.”

“Thank you sir!” You said appreciatively. “I’ll do my very best-”

He waved at you dismissively, not in the mood for any sort of thearatics, now facing the rest of his papers. “Just leave my office before I change my mind.”

EMMA hummed to the rhythm of the music blasting from her earpods as she folded her clothes for the week.

It had been so long since she last went home to see her big brother and just generally slept in her own bed again. No matter how comfy school was, nothing could compare to people waiting on her hand and foot, not lifting a single finger to do anything. If anyone heard her thoughts now, they would make comments on how she’s so spoiled -which they wouldn’t be wrong, it’s just that she didn’t care.

The door to her room opened and slammed shut, snapping Emma out of her thoughts as you ran towards her tearfully. Abandoning the clothes she was folding, the blond girl quickly rushed to you, enveloping you in a tight hug while you broke down in her arms, sobs shaking your entire body.

“(Name)? What’s wrong?” She tried to ask you, but all that led to was you sobbing louder into her bosom, scaring her. What could have happened to you? Was it her brothers again? Did they hurt you?

Any attempt to get you to speak was futile, your body racked with sobs as you held onto her, years wetting her top. Each cry was like a stab to her heart, twisting the blade into her chest as she could only hold you while you wailed. Holding onto you, the girl guided you to her bed, sitting you down so that she could comfort you, rubbing circles into the small of your back. “It’s okay.” She whispered, putting her chin on your head, trying to get you to relax. “Let it out, I’m here. I’m here for you.”

Eventually, your sobs turned into quiet whimpering, your voice hoarse and cracked. Emma doesn’t stop cradling you, rocking you back and forth until you stopped crying, only sniffling back snot and tears. Once she was sure you were okay, she pulled away from you to get some wet wipes. Putting a hand underneath your chin, she started wiping your face clean, removing the snot from your nose and dried tears altogether.

“Is there something wrong with me?”

Emma frowned at your question, her heart shattering at how sad you looked. All the light and wonder that once shown through your eyes had disappeared, leaving you with a gaping abyss. You looked so tired, your eye bags weighing heavily underneath your lids. You had lost a significant amount of weight by just how frail your body felt underneath her touch.

You were fading before her very eyes. She thought maybe it was the stress of the tests, but it was clear something else was wrong.

“There’s nothing wrong with you.” Emma replied, before dropping the wipes aside. “Who hurt you? Tell me. Was it Mikey? Izana?”

For a second, there is a flash of fear in your eyes. It was so brief, but it quickly disappeared from wherever it came, worrying Emma. “Not your brothers.” You quickly interjected. Emma wanted to press you further, but one look from you told her it was probably best she didn’t ask about whatever was going on. “It’s the Dean.”

“The dean?” She tilted her head in confusion. Professor Hanabi could be very caustic, and noting by how soft you were, sometimes you weren’t the best in dealing with hurtful words thrown at you. “What did he do? Did he insult you?”

You paused, looking at your hands as you twisted them in your laps, contemplating on how you would put what happened in words. “I… he showed me my scores from the make-up test and they were bad.”

“Oh, (name)!” her voice was sympathetic, pulling you into another hug again, comforting you gently. “I know how hard you studied for that test. It’s not your fault.”

“It-it’s just…” you broke into a sob again “I’ve been so stressed lately and looking for a job and and-”

“It’s okay… it’s okay…” she whispered, shushing you, before pulling away again to look at you. “You need some time off school to recuperate, you look so worn out and tired.”

“But how?” You cried, wiping a tear away from your face. “I don’t even have the money to even eat, let alone escape from school. I can’t go home either!”

Emma frowned, realizing how callous she sounded. She had forgotten you had no one to go to and she was the only one you had left. She could go home and unwind while you didn’t have such a privilege at all.

‘Wait.’

“Come with me.”

You stopped mid-sob at her abrupt suggestion, your brows furrowed in confusion. “Huh?”

“Come home with me,” it was an amazing idea. She was sure you wouldn’t mind seeing where she lived and there was a whole lot of space for anyone to stay there. Besides, she could think about her romantic life later and she’s sure that as long as you don’t see anything remotely problematic, her elder brother wouldn’t mind. “My loser brother is the only one at home and he wouldn’t bother us. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind extra company.”

“But Emma-”

“No buts!” It was already settled in her head, grabbing your hand in hers and dragging you with her towards her room door. “The car comes in two hours, so you need to dress up and pack your bags.”

As usual. No use arguing with Emma when her mind was made up.

YOUR mouth hung open at the sheer magnificence of the Sano residence.

You’ve never seen such opulence before. Sure, the older man who offered to take your hand in marriage had a nice three story house, fully furnished. Back then you had assumed that it was the biggest house you had ever seen, seeing as it was far bigger than the small terrace building you found yourself in with your family.

This? It took your breath away.

From the car that drove both you and Emma, you could see the numerous, neatly arranged and cut hedges, flowers of different varieties blooming between bushes. You caught sight of a water fountain in the middle of the compound, quietly gushing down, before trailing your sight to the magnificent house that stood proudly.

Emma noticed your baffled expression, quietly chuckling to herself as she watched you gaze at everything in child-like wonder. One thing she loved about you was how you seemed to appreciate things she had gotten used to, bringing life to something she was bored with. She spent most of her teenage years in this house, to the point that she complained that the dorm room Shinichiro got for her was far too small when she first entered university.

It wasn’t until your fresh perspective came along, that she realized how foolish she sounded back then.

The car came to a stop right in front of the house and an armed guard was quick to open the doors for both of you. Emma slid out of the car gracefully, before holding out her hand to you- grasping your warm palm in hers tight and helping you leave the car awestruck. You glanced around, gasping at how beautiful the house and architecture was; everything perfectly sculpted and put together.

“Emma, your house is gorgeous.” you breathed out, your eyes shining oddly. “I’ve only seen this in magazines, but even they cannot compare to how beautiful it is.”

Emma chuckled, squeezing your hand gently, her soft yellow eyes cascading on your awestruck face. “We should head inside, my brother hates being kept waiting.” She whispered to you, before turning to the rest of the guards, her voice switching into a more demanding tone. “Her boxes are the light blue ones, take them to the guest room in the main wing.”

Your eyes widened as you saw them take your box, as if snapping you out of your trance. You’ve never had anyone taking your stuff for you now- not when you can do it yourself. “Wait, let me help-” you started, moving towards the boot of the vehicle to help out only for Emma to drag you back to her side.

“Don’t be silly. You’re a guest here.” She said in a warning tone. “My guest and I’ll be damned if I let you lift a single finger.”

“But…”

“(Name), I brought you here to relax.” She stated, dragging you towards the door as she spoke. Sometimes, Emma wished you let yourself be a tad more selfish like her and just enjoyed things that were given to you on a platter of gold instead of trying to repay any one that even tries to help you, back. “I know you’re not used to having people do things for you, but they’re paid for that. Let them do their job.”

You opened your mouth to speak again, but closed it when you saw the look of finality Emma had on her face. You knew that there was no point in arguing with her any more when she made up her mind and dropped the issue immediately.

The huge door opened for the both of them, revealing a beautiful interior, the cooler environment in contrast to the sunny exterior greeting them. You glanced around in awe at the furnished house, a beautiful chandelier glistening above your head whilst guarded men and servants walk around doing their daily tasks. As you walked through the wide space with Emma holding your hand, anyone walking by would bow their head and greet Emma with a short. “Welcome lady Emma.” Or “How was your journey lady Emma.” before being dismissed by the wave of her hand.

You realized no one looked her in the eye, but many of them had their eyes on you, as if sizing you up. You caught a servant even sneering at you before pretending to go back to dusting the knick knacks on the table.

The weight of hostility began to crush you and suddenly the awe of the beautiful house wore off, leaving you with a rather dreadful feeling you always had when you were in school. Like, you were out of place, standing next to someone you clearly don’t deserve to walk with.

You find yourself subconsciously walking closer to Emma and clinging onto her arm tight, which if she minded, she didn’t say anything to dissuade you. She was always your source of comfort, especially in a place where you weren’t familiar with and her presence was enough to remind you that at least one person wanted you here.

The stairways were straight, made of the finest wood, each step creaking under the weight of Emma’s loafer sandals until you reached the second floor. You realized that there were more guards than the ground floor securing this place and it made you a tad bit confused as to why. Emma never really went into full details on how her eldest brother handled his business, only giving you a vague description about twice before never bringing it up again in a conversation. You understood that, knowing fully well that it was best for you to be left in the dark in that sort of thing.

You knew how bad Toman and Tenjiku rumors were rampant in school, you didn’t want to imagine what a full fledged Yakuza with no school rules and the entire police force underneath their thumb could accomplish.

You both reached a large wooden door guarded by two stone faced guards, guns tucked by their sides in an obvious position. Emma boldly walked up to them with you in tow and they lowered their heads in respect for her. “Lady Emma.”

“Open the door, I want to see my big brother.”

“He is in a meeting with his executives but we can let you in-” One of them said, before his eyes trailed to you, hardening his gaze. “You know the rules. No outsiders.”

Emma glared back at him, tightening her grip on you to prevent you from trying to leave. “I don’t care. Open the door.” She commanded.

“Lady Emma-”

“Don’t make me repeat myself if you still want your tongue attached to the rest of your mouth.”

You know you should be terrified of her right now as she made such a threat in a demanding voice, yet your heart beat faster. Even when she was serious, you couldn’t help but be drawn to that aura of hers.

The guard didn’t say another word as he slid the door open, letting the two of you in. You followed behind Emma, wondering how it would be like to meet the infamous Shinichiro Sano. She had told you that despite her brother’s status, he was still a soft man and had no luck with any woman because of how tactless he could be sometimes.

‘Emma never showed me a picture. I wonder if he would look like Manjiro, maybe an older version with blond hair as well and just as short. Or maybe he wasn’t just as attractive as his younger siblings in the slightest-’

Your words cut off as you caught sight of the most attractive man you had ever seen in your life.

Dark hair fell across his face, paired with the darkest irises you’ve ever seen before, reminding you of a shiny ebony wood. His eyes were heavy lidded, dark circles under them, contrasting with his warm toned skin. His nose was straight, falling into a slope to his lips; coloured dark pink, probably from smoking for long, yet pillowy, soft looking.

You suddenly felt self conscious, slightly grateful you listened to Emma’s advice to wear something nicer.

“Big brother Shin!”

‘What?’

Your eyes nearly fell out of your sockets as you watched her run over to the man standing in the middle, practically jumping onto him. He was quick to balance her before she fell, holding her tight as she hugged him with a loud squeal. You noticed how his frown relaxed, his dark eyes softening as he spun her around like a child before setting her down.

“You look gorgeous Em.” He said, his deep voice resounding in your ears, drawing you in further until you’re hypnotized. You watched with glossed over eyes as he twirls her around with one hand before pulling her into a warm hug again, making her giggle. The other men in the room watched the interaction with smiling faces, very obvious that they were used to seeing them like this.

“Look at how big you’ve grown Em.” Another one mentioned, his multicolored hair tied up in a half up, half down style while the sides were shaved in strategic places, lazy eyes fixated on the girl. “You’re a whole lady now, I’m sure guys would be rolling and tripping over you, Princess. No wonder when Izana came back yesterday, he was complaining about you not needing him anymore”

You tensed a bit. Great. Just when you thought you had peace of mind.

“No, no, remember she’s got a thing for that blonde haired guy…” a large man spoke, his tan skin contrasting with his white hair. “... Dra.. Dra… whatever his name is. She ain’t looking at another guy.”

You watched as Emma blushed, before burying her face into the silk shirt her brother wore to hide her embarrassment. “Stop… you guys…” she muffled.

“I think she shouldn’t put her eggs in one basket.” A man with a scar over his eye chirped in, his tone rather sarcastic in contrast to the happy aura. “After all, he’s a guy and guys get bored of being with one girl. Especially if you open your legs too much for him.”

Your mood shifted at the last person’s unjustified comment and from the annoyed look Emma shot at him, it was clear he was always used to saying things like this all the time. It was the type of thing your eldest brother used to say whenever he saw you talking to a boy, before going behind your back to lie about you whoring yourself out to discourage anyone from talking to you.

“She’s not like that.”

Your hand quickly shot up to your mouth the moment those words left them but it was too late. All eyes slowly fell on you, finally recognizing your presence after minutes of you standing there. You quickly lowered your head to avoid looking any of them in the eye, muttering a quiet ‘sorry’.

As if it would do anything.

The scarred man was the first to talk, his eyes scanning your body up and down with sudden interest, sending a wave of nausea up your throat. Why was he looking at you like that? “Ah, and who is this cutie, Emma?” He said sleazy. “A friend of yours?”

‘Am I some kind of predator magnet?’ You started to ask yourself. Emma suddenly pulled away from her brother and walked up to you, dragging you forwards until you were face to face with the rest of them.

“Yes, Uncle Takeomi.” She spat out rudely, eyeing him up and down in rapid movements. “She’s my friend and I’d appreciate it if you stay far away from her.”

“Easy Princess, he was just complimenting your friend.” the multicolored haired man tried to argue, but with the amused look on his face, you were sure he didn’t even believe his own words.

Takeomi must have a track record.

Emma rolled her eyes, confirming your suspicions that the scarred faced man - Takeomi- was some kind of degenerate who possibly went for younger girls. “Remember the last friend of Senju he complimented?” by knocking her up and making her get rid of it?” She spat. “I wonder Uncle, was she really into it or did you tamper with her dr-”

“Why don’t you introduce us to your friend, Emma?” the larger man cut her off, shooting her a warning glare that clearly said ‘an outside is here. Behave.’

Huffing in defeat, Emma turned her attention towards you again, bringing you a bit forward to face the group of men. “This is my friend, (Name) (Last name).” She introduced, her tone inflecting higher than usual. “(Name), this is Wakasa Imaushi” she pointed at the multi-colored haired man, who winked at you, making you feel a little bit shy.

“That’s Keizo Arashi, but I call him Uncle Benkei.” She pointed at the broad man, who only greets you with a kind smile, before narrowing her eyes at Takeomi.

“That’s Takeomi Akashi. And yes, he’s related to Senju and Haru.” she muttered the last part just for you to hear. “unfortunately”

Your eyes nearly fell out in shock. He looked so different from his younger siblings, not in a bad way, he was handsome but in a far rugged way as compared to Haru’s pretty boy aura. He also looked like a perver-

“And this is the man of the house, my big brother Shinichiro.”

Your eyes left the ground, slowly locking eyes with the dark haired man as your heart rammed against your ribcage. Up close he was more handsome, making your mouth grow dry as you stared at him, unable to form a proper sentence.

He took your hand from your side and rose it to his lips, pressing his lips at the back, heating you up. “Nice to meet you, (Name). Emma’s talked so much about you.”

The way he called your name had your heart thudding in your chest, hard. “Really?” You squeaked out, almost embarrassed at how silly you sounded. “Was it all good?”

“I’d like to think teaching her to be prudent with her money and reducing her party animal tendency is a good thing-”

“Shut up!” She interjected in a playful tone, before pulling you away. “Anyways, we’re staying for a couple of days Shin. I’m going to show her around the place.”

You don’t have time to say a proper goodbye as Emma dragged you away from her brother and his friends.

Or notice how dilated Shinichiro’s eyes went as he watched you walk away with Emma.

“(NAME), IS IT? Come sit with us.”

The evening breeze was cool against your exposed skin as you walked along the poolside barefooted. You could see Wakasa who had called you, a drink in hand, sitting alongside Benkei, who hunched over, his feet dipped into the pool with Takeomi, Izana and Shinichiro, smoking and discussing something in hushed tones.

On hearing your name, Shinichiro swerved his attention in your direction before putting out his cigarette in the ash bowl. You noticed how he pinched Izana’s hand mid-smoke, as if telling him to stop. You half expected the white haired man to complain, but he complied instead, pressing the butt of his cigarette to the ashtray and made space for you to sit between him and Shin.

“You didn’t have to stop,” you said, bunching up your skirt before dipping your feet into the cool water. “I don’t mind. I won’t bother you about it.”

Takeomi shrugged his shoulders in response, putting another stick between his lips as he got the clear from you and raising a light to his lips. “See Shin, told you she’s an angel compared to Emma-”

Shinichiro quickly snatched the lighter from his friend’s hand and put it in his pocket, earning an angry grunt from the scarred man. “She only said that so you won’t bother her about smoking.” he snapped.

“So what? Shin, she’s a university student, she probably smokes and drinks during parties.”

“That doesn’t mean-”

“Actually.” You cut them off before they could start arguing about it. It was best to give them clear answers to avoid misconceptions and awkward assumptions like last time. “I’ve never smoked or drank. Or go to parties.”

The rest of the men apart from Izana look at you with an incredulous look, as if they couldn’t believe their ears. Takeomi was the first to break the silence with a throaty laughter from his lungs, the cigarette falling from his lips. “Oh that’s rich. What next? You’re a virgin too?” He mocked.

He stopped laughing when your eyes fell to your lap, embarrassed at him mocking you for something you want to keep for someone special, blinking rapidly as the realization dawned on him. “Oh… OHHH, you really are a virgin.” he stated, making you grow uncomfortable. “What are you? A prude? What next, a purity ring that says you’re saving yourself for marriage?”

“Quit it Takeomi.” Benkei snapped at him, the environment tensed as you hung your head in embarrassment. “What is wrong with you?”

“I’m just saying it’s weird for her to still be saving herself for some guy when she dresses like she is ran throu-”

He gasped as Shinichiro suddenly shoved him into the water, before popping out of the water with a loud splash. A smile made its way to your face as you watched him sputter and cough out water, glaring directly at Shinichiro while his other friends laughed at his struggling. “I JUST PERMED MY HAIR.” He screamed at Shinichiro, who shrugged his shoulders in return. “I thought you needed to cool off. You were getting pretty heated.”

You withheld your laughter as Takeomi grumbled in the pool, swimming out to the edge and pulling himself out while muttering a low, “fuck you Shin” before storming off into the house. The said man turned to look at you apologetically, “Sorry. He’s an ass sometimes. You don’t need to do all that, by the way.”

For a moment it’s just the two of you in the pool side, his handsome dark eyes staring at you, drawing you into its endless void. Your heart rate picked up at the proximity, nearly leaving you extremely breathless “I-it’s okay.” You managed to stutter out, earning a wide toothed grin from him.

“Atta girl-”

He didn't finish his statement as Izana reached out his hand and suddenly shoved his elder brother into the pool, making the rest of them laugh at him as well. Shin bursts out of the pool, his clothes wet and sticking to his body, clearly confused as to why Izana pushed him. “What was that for now?”

“For pinching me.” He stated bluntly, causing the other guys to bark with laughter, nearly doubling over. “And you looked like you needed it.”

Shinichiro wanted to complain, but it died in his throat the second he saw you smile at him, admiring how good he looked even with his hair and clothes wet, sticking to his body. Instead, he shot you a smirk back as he flapped his arms to keep himself afloat.

This was going to be an interesting week.

IZANA wondered why his brother kept spacing out ever since he began talking.

It was an odd behavior from his brother. It wasn’t noticeable at first, with Shinichiro nodding along to his explanation on how he traced the man who was siphoning their cocaine routes to other smaller gangs and occasionally saying “mmh” and “what happened next”. Eventually, his older brother stopped bothering to even pretend he was listening, zoning out thirty minutes into the conversation.

It would have been funny to Izana. Really. His brother looked so lost and occasionally would turn red in the face before letting out a sigh. In fact, in a lighter situation, Izana would have taken pictures and sent them to Mikey to cheer him up, of course. His younger brother has been upset that you were ignoring him- which was ridiculous to Izana because you WERE smart to do so, considering he decided to be an idiot and break into your room while you were there.

To be honest, Izana hadn’t even told Mikey you were here, knowing that he’d drop everything and come, ruining your alone time with Emma. Izana wasn’t that heartless, at least you deserve a little break from Mikey’s obsession and he got to see you in rather revealing clothes that he was sure was Emma’s idea. Mikey would just ruin the free show by telling you to cover up.

Plus, where’s the fun in telling Mikey the truth now, when he could just find out later?

Returning his attention back to Shinichiro, Izana wondered what could have had his brother in a chokehold. Whatever it was, it better be far more important than ten million dollars worth of drugs going missing.

“Am I boring you big brother?” Izana asked in a very harsh tone. It seemed to have snapped Shinichiro out of his dreams as he sat up straight, face red in embarrassment. Good. He should be embarrassed for wasting his goddamn breath after spending weeks tracking the mastermind behind the operation

“No, no, not at all-”

Izana shook his head, raising a hand to silence Shinichiro. “You have that stupid look on your face. The one where you blush and drool like an idiot. And that can only mean one thing.” Izana leaned forward, lowering his voice so that only both of them could hear what he had to say. “Who’s the woman?”

His face burned hot at Izana’s invasive question, before he turned his face away. “T-t-that’s an inappropriate question-” he started to stammer. “T-there’s no woman-”

“Come onnnn, don’t lie to me.” Izana laughed at his brother’s lame attempt to pretend. Even at thirty eight, Shinichiro still had a huge weakness for women, especially beautiful ones. It was why he was single too, because he didn’t want to endanger any other woman that would be seen with him. Even in brothels, despite his brother’s lack of tact, the women always complimented him for treating them gently and with respect.

Too bad neither of his younger ones took after him.

Izana wondered who the girl could be. Was it a new maid he hired? Or maybe a client's daughter he met while negotiating? Or a client herself? Shinichiro didn’t care how old they were anyways, so it could be-

“A-am I interrupting something?”

Izana resisted the urge to roll his eyes the second he heard your sickening sweet voice, before swiveling his head towards your direction. He had to admit, you looked extremely gorgeous today, wearing a blue flowery long sleeved top tied in the middle and exposing your midriff with a low waist skirt that was the same color and pattern, flowing down to your ankles. In your hand was a tray of orange juice in a large jar and two cups.

Your arms must be tired, carrying it all the way from the kitchen to the garden. Too bad.

“Yes actually” Izana hissed at you, mentally smiling at how you flinched at his voice. “What is it that you want?”

You bit your lip nervously, which he thought was kind of cute. You should do that more often. “I-i hand pressed some oranges for you two and I-i thought you would want them-”

“Did you remove the pulp?” He snarled at you, making you feel extremely uncomfortable. Watching you be put under the spot was so fun, you made all these cute, sweet reactions and if he wasn’t in front of his brother, he’d be hard. “I won’t drink it if that shit is in there.”

“Y-yes I did. Emma told me you didn’t like it so I scooped them out.”

‘Aww. Aren’t you such an angel?’

“Come to think of it,” Izana stated, moving to stroke his chin, as if in deep thought. Oh this was clearly going to get a rise out of you. “How are we sure you didn’t poison it?”

“E-excuse me?” The look on your face was priceless, as if he had just said something so evil that you would never do. Not like you would ever have the balls to even do something anyways.

He decided to add Shinichiro to the teasing, since his brother hadn’t stopped him from saying anything to you. “Hey, big bro, what do you think? She should taste the drink first right?”

Izana stopped in his tracks the moment he looked at his brother, his eyes nearly falling out of his sockets in disbelief. To his shock, Shinichiro had an awestruck look on his face, staring at you like a dumb teenager in love; his face red and his pupils dilated. He looked from Shinichiro, to you and then back to Shinichiro again, piecing the entire puzzle together in his head.

‘No fucking way.’

A sudden wave of anger rushed through the white haired man. Of all the people Shinichiro fell for, all the women in the world, all the whores he slept with and still, STILL he just had to pick you. It was already bad that Mikey had refused to eat or get out of bed because of you, but now Shin too?

Shinichiro Sano. The leader of the Black Dragons. Tripping over his feet for you?

It only increased when you turned your attention to Shinichiro, your own pupils dilating as you stared at him in awe. “I can taste it for you, Mr. Sano.” You said in a far sweeter voice than you ever gave him or Mikey and Shinichiro only nodded dumbly.

So not only was Shin in love with you, but you also had feelings for him as well?

Izana watched in boiling rage as you set the tray down, giving him and his brother an eye full of your cleavage, before pouring a little into a cup and taking a sip out of it, looking directly at Shin.

What now? You were into men old enough to give birth to you? This has to be some kind of stupid plot you were doing to be a madame of the house. To get all of them to fall in love with you. The sudden feeling brewing in his chest was so unfamiliar, annoyed at you giving fuck me eyes to his brother who would have remained a virgin if not for his status as the leader of the black dragons.

Granted, Izana hadn’t treated you nicely, but you barely knew what kind of things his brother is capable of. You had no idea what you were getting yourself into and yet you-

“Izana, are you okay?” You asked quietly, a worried look. He hadn’t realized his face was contorted in disgust until you started asking questions. “Did something happen-”

“Get out.” He spat at you. When you flinched, he screamed at you even louder to get you to leave. “I said GET OUT!”

“IZANA!” Shinichiro shouted at him. His brother rarely ever raised his voice, no matter what he did. “APOLOGIZE RIGHT NOW-”

“It’s alright.” You cut both of them short. Izana could see how hurt you looked from him screaming at you. “I’ve got other things to do.”

“(Name), wait-”

Shinichiro calling out to you was futile as you hurried away without looking back, tears in your eyes. When you had disappeared, Shinichiro turned back to look at Izana, his eyes blazing with fury.

“Izana, what is wrong with you-”

Izana didn’t know what got into him as he stood up, aiming his fist directly into Shinichiro’s face and punching his elder brother. “You’re FUCKING CRAZY.” Izana yelled at him as he held his nose. “WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE HER?”

“Izana?”

He didn’t realize Takeomi, Benkei and Wakasa had all rushed out to meet the two of them until Benkei got in the middle, blocking Izana’s path. Takeomi managed to yank an angry Izana away from the place, dragging the heavily breathing man back into the garage before Izana could think of hitting his elder brother again.

“Dude- calm down.” Takeomi chastised, clearly confused as to Izana’s anger. “What happened?”

“My brother is a moron.” Izana hissed. He could understand why he would do this to him in the first place. Why you of all people. “A fucking moron when it comes to women.”

A dark look crossed Takeomi’s face before he sighed, as if expecting this reaction. “It’s (name), isn’t it?” Great, it was that bad that everyone knew. “I can’t blame him though. Have you seen the kind of things she wears in this house?”

Izana huffed at Takeomi, but he couldn’t disagree with his statement as he also hated how you were comfortable hanging your ass or tits out for men to look at. “Don’t be mad at him.” Takeomi stated, now placing his hand on Izana’s shoulder. “You know your brother has a weak spot for pretty ladies. It’s her fault, she keeps shaking that tight ass of hers when she knows this house is full of men.”

Izana felt himself relax as he listened to Takeomi’s words. He was right. It was your fault that his brother fell for you. You had to know what you were doing, purposefully seducing everyone. “Yeah…” Izana muttered in response. “She’s the problem.”

Takeomi patted his shoulder in reassurance. “Just stay strong. I know you’re at that point in life when you’re possessive over a girl.” he said, pushing himself away from him. “But you can’t compete with your elder brother. You know that.”

Yeah. He knew. Somehow, Takeomi’s words hit him hard in the chest, which confused him a lot. Was that why he was mad at you? Because you were going for his brother and not him? It didn’t make any sense to him.

Izana hated you. That was it.

But why did the thought of you with anyone else make him so angry?

Takeomi walked away from him, pulling a cig from his back pocket into his mouth and taking out his lighter, igniting it. “Don’t stress your head about it. Shin will get bored of her soon enough and you’ll get her back.

That is if you’re okay with damaged goods of course.”

It took Izana a while to process Takeomi’s words, mulling over them long after he left.

‘Damaged goods?’

YOU sat at the garden the next day, enjoying the breeze blowing against your face.

Emma was surprisingly scarce the past few days, going out to shop or see old friends. You didn’t blame her for it, it was supposed to be her free time away from everyone. Even extroverted people like her needed a break from everything, to take a breather and recharge.

She was kind enough to invite you over. The place was beautiful enough to ogle at without having to go anywhere. You felt yourself relax, the pressure from school no longer weighing down on you. Apart from Izana’s angry outburst, everything else felt nice. The staff were far nicer to you than the first day and the subordinates were kind enough to steer out of your way.

Takeomi was quite touchy, feely with you, but luckily it ended after the first few days after Wakasa dragged his hand off your ass.

You decided to read the book you bought with you amidst the fresh breeze, ‘I Capture the Castle’. It was the first book you ever bought for yourself after leaving the house and it always brought you some form of comfort. The main character was a bit like you, dreaming and imagining beauty and extremely naïve. She had a kind of sweet charm to her and it reminded you when you were her age.

Not that you were older than her by that much, but at 20 you felt like you’ve aged five years older with everything that has happened to you.

“Can I sit here?”

That deep melodious voice- you quickly shot your head up to look at Shinichiro standing in front of you, shyly away. Your heart raced as you nod in approval, shifting a bit for him to sit down. It was nice of him to ask for permission first and then stay silent, knowing that you were engrossed in your book, other people would just sit and try to start a conversation when you’re trying to read.

You two remained in a comfortable silence, you reading your book while he stared at you with gentle eyes. You snuck a few peaks at him and caught him staring at the cover of your book. Sometimes, he’d stare at you directly, trailing his gaze to your lips and then back to your face again, before looking at the book.

It was always like this. Subtle touches on your waist, on your arms. His gentle gaze staring at you. The way he’d press his body against yours when you ask him to help you with something. Always tiptoeing around you.

“Are you curious, Mr. Sano?” You teased, making him jump at your statement, getting visibly flustered. “About the book?”

“Well, I-i-'' he stammered, before clearing his throat to regain his composure. “-i’ve never seen this one before. I mean, Emma didn’t say it was part of your curriculum.”

“No, it isn’t” you giggled at his cluelessness. He looked so handsome when looking for excuses. “I’m reading this for fun. The main character is a lot like me, so I like it.”

His brows furrowed, revealing some frown lines on his forehead as he pondered on your words. “Really?” He asked, his curiosity piqued in the book now. “How so?”

You sighed dreamily, facing the book down as you excitedly talked about your favorite parts of the book. “She dreams a lot, romanticizing her otherwise bleary life in a big castle, despite it falling apart.” You started. “Her father is a recluse and she has a strange stepmom who paints nude. She has an elder sister, Rose -who reminds me a lot of Emma.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.” You said, a smile forming on your lips at his sudden interest in your silly little book and he smiled back, shifting closer to you. “The book is written in her pov, like journal entries. She talks about her life and love. I’m actually at the part where she fell in love with an older guy-”

You stopped yourself realizing what you were about to imply. You and him look at each other, his dark eyes peering into your very soul. All you could hear was blood rushing into your ears at how close you were to him, your lips barely inches away from his.

“And how did that end for her?” He said breathless, the sweet smell of nicotine infiltrating your nostrils. “Did she end up with the older guy?”

You know there is a hidden question between the two of you. As if he’s asking you about each other, if you two also have a chance, if he had a chance with you. Your breath hitched in your throat as he moved closer to you, tilting his head sideways.

“Shinichiro, there you are.”

The two of you quickly pulled away as Wakasa stepped in, looking away from each other. The multi-colored haired man looked from you, to Shinichiro, then back to you before raising a brow.

“I interrupted the both of you?”

You felt hot underneath his scrutinizing gaze, nearly ashamed of how obvious the both of you were. Shinichiro quickly stood up and started telling Wakasa to stop teasing you. “She wasn’t doing anything wrong. We were talking about her book.”

“Sure.” Wakasa rolled his eyes at his very weak defense. “I’ll give him back later (Name), we have a lot to do.”

With that, Wakasa started heading off and Shinichiro grabbed your hand, leaving a gentle kiss on it. “Promise me you’ll tell me about your book later?” He asked you. You smiled shyly before nodding, letting your hand go gently and rushing after Wakasa.

You hid your laughter as the multi-colored haired man slapped Shinichiro across the head hard, before disappearing into the house.

YOU could barely sleep.

The bed was soft, far softer than the hard rock of a mattress that they gave you at school. The pillows were even softer, easing your neck into a blissful rest.

Yet, you kept twisting and turning around.

For some reason you never got Shinichiro out of your mind. Every time you close your eyes, you would picture him in your mind, trying to imagine his deep, resounding voice saying your name. You would replay scenes of him greeting you and asking you about your day, his hand touching your lower back and waist briefly as he helped you get things off the shelves.

Or the apology he gave you when Izana lost his temper. His hand holding yours as he tried to explain that he would tell his brothers to be better.

It was silly. For a man that you barely knew, he seemed to occupy every inch of your mind and heart, consuming all forms of rational thought.

You knew you had an overactive imagination, but this was getting very ridiculous. As much as he was Emma’s brother whom she spoke highly of and was cordial to you, Shinichiro Sano was a criminal mastermind. Who owned the biggest gang in Japan.

And the warmest of smiles-

You knew some dangerous things happened each night in this household. Sometimes, in the middle of tossing and turning, you would stand up and walk to the window, watching unmarked vehicles drive in and out of the compound. If you were lucky, you would see Shinichiro walk out with either Wakasa or Takeomi and unfamiliar people from different walks of life. You always ended up staring longingly at the dark haired man before retreating back to your bed, your head full of stupid ideas.

Was this how love sickness felt? The heavy burden on your chest, eating you alive and corrupting your thoughts. Sometimes drifting even to worse ideas, sinful ideas of him reaching down and playing with you -

You put a pillow over your head and let out a muffled scream. It was obvious that whatever it was, you were going to skip another night of sleep if you didn’t do something else to take your mind off him. Slipping out the bed, you swung your feet to touch the ground and decided to walk around the house to clear your head.

You quietly pushed your room door open, padding down the hallways gently. Aimlessly, you roamed around the quiet areas, before deciding to make due with your added time. ‘A midnight snack seems like a good idea.’ You mused to yourself. Shinichiro permitted you to use the kitchen with no restriction and with only two days left to your stay here, might as well make good use of it.

The stairs always felt longer in the night and you imagined yourself to be in a castle, walking down the spindly flight as an attendant- you’re not a princess in your imagination, never. Emma’s the princess. You are the lowly attendant who waltzed around the castle in the middle of the night, dreaming about a king. A king who showered her with a lot of attention.

A lowly attendant in love with a king.

You made your way to the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge, taking out a tub of mayonnaise and sliced bread. “I’ll just take three.” You muttered, dressing each slice with mayo. As much as it may disgust people, you always loved eating bread with mayonnaise and it was one thing you never really cared if anyone would condemn you for. Especially as it was all you could afford to buy sometimes.

Once you finished clearing the space you used, you picked up your plate and started heading for the stairs.

“Please, please, I’ll pay you back- I’ll return the money.”

Your ears picked up at the faint sound coming from the living room, as if someone was talking. Emma said that any time Izana was around, he always left the television on -either because he slept off or he went to his room and forgot to turn it off. You shrugged it off as nothing and decided to continue on your way to your room. The last thing you wanted was Izana to wake up and bother you for trying to help him turn it off like last time he exploded at you.

‘But’ a part of you against your rational thoughts nagged. ‘It wouldn’t be nice to do that. He might wake up with bad neck pain’

You tried to shrug that thought out of your head. There was no way you were ever going to help Izana. Not after everything he had put you through. You couldn’t even remember all the details of the night he attacked you, especially what happened after he tried to strangle you. And not with how hostile he was to you.

‘It’s just a T.V, just turn it off.’

You sighed, finally giving in. Spinning around on your heel, you quietly tiptoed to the living room to avoid him waking up. ‘I’m just doing a favor by turning the t.v off.’ You muttered to yourself, trying to justify breaking your promise to avoid him at all cost. ‘Nothing more, nothing less-’

Your mind went blank the moment you set your eyes on the scene before you. Izana was there alright, hands in his pockets as he stood beside Wakasa, whose fists were bloody. A man knelt on the floor, his hands clasped in front of him and face pressed down on the floor by Takeomi’s foot. Shinichiro stood there, his dark eyes empty as if almost bored by the man begging.

You should go. You should turn around and leave before anyone sees you and pretend you saw nothing, but your feet were glued to the ground as you watched the scene unfold.

“Leave him, Takeomi.” You heard Shinichiro say and the scarred man released the foot of his head. “Lift your head.” He commanded again and the man swiftly did so. Your stomach churned at the man’s bloodied face and lips, to the point even his shirt was stained with sweat and blood.

“Please! I didn’t mean to cross Izana- I didn’t know he was your brother. I-i’ll do better-”

You watched in horror as Shinichiro slowly pulled out a gun from his waistband and pointed its barrel at the man’s head, his facial expression unchanging. The man started begging even more frantically as he slowly wrapped his finger around the trigger, before pushing it back.

A loud bang echoed throughout the entire room, the bullet pierced through the man’s head and killed him instantly, his body dropping with a thud.

You didn’t realize when your hand went slack until the plate crashed onto the ground, scattering around into smithereens. Izana is the first to turn around and notice you standing there, eyes wide and chest heaving, followed by others who quickly replace their smirks with a look of concern.

“I-i-i…” What could you even say? You knew what kind of job they did, but you never thought you’d ever see it right before your eyes. Whatever fairytale imagination you had of Shinichiro was shattered with the reality of who he really was. And what did you even expect? That a gangster wouldn’t murder people? That he’d just be Emma’s older brother and nothing else?

It was as if your terrified look snapped Shinichiro out of his murderous haze, making him push the gun into Takeomi’s grasp and rush to you, cursing underneath his breath. “(Name)-”

“I didn’t see anything.” You started to lie. If you showed your solidarity and unwavering loyalty to him, he wouldn’t kill you. You didn’t realize how badly your body was trembling as he walked closer to you or how heavy your breaths are. “I didn’t see anything at all, I swear. I’ll keep it a secret-”

“Calm down, calm-”

“I don’t want to die…” tears fell out of your eyes as he walked towards you. “... I’ll keep it a secret…I’ll-”

He stood before you, blocking your view from the gorey scene. Large hands cradled your cheeks, his thumb wiping your tears away from your face. “Calm down. I won’t hurt you. I swear.” He whispered gently. “How much did you see?”

“E-everything-” you answered honestly, still tearing up. “-please don’t kill me.”

“That won’t happen. I swear on my life.” He tried to soothe you with his large palms on your face. “You’re not thinking straight and your feet are probably hurt. Let’s go to my room and we’ll forget all about this. Hm?”

If you were operating with a rational thought right now, you would have refused his offer and ran away from him. You would call him a murderer and hide in your guest room until it was time to go home. Nothing good ever came with being alone with any of the Sano brothers, you should have known that by now.

If.

You nodded your head and let him scoop your body up from the ground into his arms. “Takeomi, Wakasa, get the cleaning crew.” He demanded, still blocking your view from the corpse lying in its pool of blood. “Izana, go to your room.”

“What about-” you heard Izana start to question, but stopped immediately, his lips twisting into a frown as he looked at the both of you. “I see.”

Shinichiro slowly takes you up the stairs, the faint bloody stench fading away the further you go. You’re not fully present as he opened his room door and walked you into his main chambers, sitting you down on the bed.

“(Name), I’m sorry.” He apologized, kneeling before you and taking your hand in his. The same he held that gun in. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I’m so sorry.”

You don’t say anything, still reeling in shock. You could see the dead body on the ground, bloodied and injured, a bullet hole in his head.

And the man responsible in front of you. Begging you for forgiveness. For making you see his ugly side.

He slid from your feet to your body, now standing at his full height as his face hovered above yours. “I’ll make you forget about it.” He said, his hand tilting your chin upwards and leaning closer to you. “I’ll make it disappear, I promise.”

He moves closer to you, pressing a chaste kiss on your lips and pulling away. He kissed you again and again until you relaxed in his arms putting yours around his back and reciprocated his kiss.

Your back hit the bed as the kiss grew hotter, his mouth opening to dart his tongue out into yours, playing with your own wet muscle softly. His leg found its way between your thighs, pressing onto your aching core, slightly moving up and down, stimulating you. His hands moved to the hem of his shirt, breaking your kiss to tug it over his head, tossing it aside to reveal his lean figure. Before you could fully admire him, he pressed his mouth to yours, kissing you deeply.

He was gentle, his hands on either side of your head as he kissed you again. Like he was taking his time with you, making you enjoy everything going on.

You felt yourself grow wetter and wetter with each movement of his thigh rubbing against your clit. As he moved down from your lips to your neck, he paid attention to keeping the pace of his thigh movement, making you breathe heavily. “Does it feel good, baby?” He asked between kisses, his hands taking the straps of your flimsy nightwear down, letting your breasts to pop out. “Want me to do more”

You know you should stop here. All your morals screamed at you about everything you were told about sex before marriage, with a murderer regardless and yet, for the first time, you wanted more from him. Noticing your dilemma, he added “I’m not gonna take your virginity. Not tonight. I just want to make you feel good. Is that okay?”

Staring into his darkened eyes that gazed down on you with admiration, you flung every last bit of your morals in the dustbin.

“yes.”

Anything that would make you see Shinichiro as Shinichiro again.

Panties gone, your legs were wide open on each side of his waist, his body pressed onto yours tightly. Your head swarmed as his large fingers moved in and out of your pussy, loud squelching noises from how wet you were from his well timed thrusts and his lips sucking your nipples, tongue flicking and toying with them.

“Shin-” you moaned airly, breathless underneath his touch.

He scissored his fingers inside you, stretching you wide for him, each curl bringing you closer and closer to the edge. It was like he was handling an egg, trying his best not to hurt you and still making you feel good.

He pulled his lips away from your nipples, still working you open as he leaned over to face you, pressing kisses on your forehead. “You’re beautiful.” He whispered in your ears, kissing behind them. “You’re such a beautiful woman. So lucky to have you like this.”

Praises on his lips never faltered as he bucked his hand into you, deep and fast, curling and uncurling his fingers at that angle that had your eyes crossing. “Shin- shin more-” you moaned, egging him on. “Please give me more.”

Like you pushed his buttons, he angled his fingers at that spongy place, making you cry out, digging your nails in his shoulders. He kept on fingering you, watching every way your face contorted with pleasure as you cried out his name. His other hand worked with his own cock, moving rapidly also with how fast his large fingers disappear into your warm walls, sucking him in.

“Yesyesyes-” you cried out, jerking your hips to follow his thrusts. “That’s it baby. Fuck yourself on my fingers pretty.” He demanded, his own breaths heavy as your plush walls sucked them in. “I love it like that. My fingers are yours. I’m all yours.”

A pit forms in your stomach, with how fast and how deep he was moving, you felt so different. Like your body was going into overdrive as he fingered you harder. It started weighing heavily on your belly, feeling like you need to pee. “Wait wait, I might pee, I feel pressed-”

Shinichiro’s eyes widened, before darkening with lust at your sudden announcement, resuming his fast thrusts. “Shit, baby, you’re gonna cum soon kay?” He reassured you. “Just relax and let go, trust me-”

You don’t argue any further as your body writhes in his grasp, legs trembling as your hips raise. It felt so wrong, like you were one bad accident away from wetting his bed. Each thrust felt like an eternity, the imminent and intense coming of an orgasm approached. Your entire body felt hot, he felt hot, jerking and bucking his cock to the rhythm.

“Oh shin, shin it’s coming, it's coming, ahh, ahh Shinshinshinshin!”

Your hips lifted up as you sprayed your cum all over his abdomen, a loud moan escaping your lips, drenching him all over until there was nothing left. The sight instantly brought him to a climax, his hands moving wildly as he ejaculated ropes of cum onto your stomach, grunting as he spilled his essence onto you until he was finished, his head falling forwards to touch your foreheads together.

You’re barely there mentally when he scooped you up into his bathroom and ran the bath for the both of you, washing himself and you clean. “You did so well.” He whispered in your ears, admiring you. “Any man would be a fool not to like you.”

You only nodded, still blank from everything. It was like your mind trying to protect you from what you had seen, trying to make you forget that the same man wiping you clean and slipping on a brand new nightwear onto you was a killer.

He had the same look in his eyes that Mikey did anytime he assaulted you. Blank. Devoid of any emotion. Pure evil.

It ran in the family.

He laid you down on the now changed sheet - his staff worked fast- and laid beside you, drawing your body into his as you faced away from him “Sleep.” He muttered quietly, stifling a yawn. Eventually you closed your eyes, the images of the dead man long gone and replaced with a blissful Shin romancing you.

And on the other side, Shinichiro’s eyes were wide open, unable to sleep but watching you until he was sure you were relaxed.

There was no sleep for the wicked after all.

“CAN we talk? Please?”

You didn’t say anything as you folded your clothes back into your box, packing to leave. It wasn’t like you were ignoring Shinichiro intentionally after last night either, you just didn’t feel like trying to process anything and everything that had happened between the two of you after that.

The fantasy was dead and gone. Shinichiro was who he is at the end of the day, both good and bad. It hurt because you loved him a lot and you wished that he didn’t have to stain his hands for money. You wished his parents were alive, instead of dumping everything on him, making him take up the yoke of survival for both him and his siblings.

It’s not like you could blame him for anything. Emma told you what they do, it wasn’t like they lied to you or anything. You were the one who deceived yourself.

He joined you in folding your clothes, his squares far neater than yours. “I’m sorry you saw me do that.” He said calmly. You know he’s not sorry for killing, but he’s sorry that you saw him do it. “I’m sorry you saw that side of me. If it was in my power, you would never see that side of me.”

You kept quiet, trying to wrap your head around the raging storm inside your head. Even despite everything, you can’t picture him as a murderer. You can’t picture him as a heartless killer. You can’t picture him as a gangster.

Instead, all you see when you look at him is that same guy who blushed when you caught him staring. The guy who stuttered on his words, who kissed your hand every time he met you.

The clothes get folded completely with an added hand, and you zipped it shut. You finally faced him, about to open your mouth to say anything, but he only took your hand and kissed the back one last time.

Your mind flashed back to the book you read. In the end, the older man fell in love with her older sister and the girl was left alone. The fantasy was over and reality was far more disappointing.

It didn’t stop you from bursting into tears and clutching onto his shirt as he hugged you tight.

Bonus:

IZANA couldn’t blame Shinichiro.

He always knew his brother had a weakness for women since childhood. Manjiro too had a soft spot as well, but it wasn’t as bad as their eldest. No matter what Shinichiro did, at the end of the day, Izana always looked up to his brother and he would always admire him.

Besides, the real problem was YOU.

“You paid her fees for the rest of the semesters in full and sent her a huge amount of money.” It wasn’t a question. Both Izana and Shinichiro knew that it was a statement. Izana felt like he was losing his entire family to your charms; first Emma, then Mikey and now, his big brother.

It was as if the world had gone mad but anyone hearing that a man paid your school fees that would last you throughout college and sent you five fucking million dollars after spending just a week with you would think you were a witch.

And to Izana, he was sure you were one. You’ve bewitched everyone. It was ridiculous.

“I did it to keep her silent about what she saw.”

Izana rolled his eyes, laughing mirthlessly. “Shin. you would have killed her on the spot if you truly wanted her to be silent.” He said. And it was the truth, because he lowered his head into his hands at the fact. “You did it because you’re head over heels for her.”

Izana turned to the rest of Shin’s friends, glaring at them. “And you all watched him do it.” He pointed accusingly at their guilty faces.

“We tried to stop him at two million but he was distraught-”

“Wakasa, forget about it.” Shinichiro cut him off, before facing Izana. “I like her. You’re right about that. Emma did ask me to help her out and I would have, but then I fell for her the second I laid my eyes on her. It’s not her fault.”

Izana felt his chest heave with fury as he stared at his brother. “Yes it is.” He spat. “I know you. You would never have done this for any other girl but her!”

“I know.” Shinichiro concurred. “And it isn’t her fault. It’s mine. She never even asked for it-”

“Of course she didn’t. She just batted her teary eyes at you and spread her legs for you.” Izana hissed. “You think women would just ASK for money?”

“IZANA!”

Everyone flinched at how harsh Shinichiro’s voice sounded. Izana stared at his brother, eyes blazing as his elder brother spoke angrily. “Look. I know about you and Mikey’s hatred for (name). Emma told me all about the kind of horrors you two did.” He growled. “I’ve decided to ignore it because she said you both apologized.”

Izana kept silent as his brother gave him a stern warning. “I’ve seen the way you look at her, Izana and I’m betting Mikey is in whatever sick game you both think you can get away with. Don’t do anything that would bring the cops to my front door. Am I clear?”

It was a double sided threat. Izana knew underneath it, Shinichiro was telling him not to hurt you.

“Crystal.”

Unfortunately, Izana just did not care.

special thanks to: @honeybleed @manjibunny @reiners-milkbiddies @izanaki707 @rukiaslvr @ilovetwodmen @bbykoo-7 @tenjikusstuff4 @cockonoi @koffeenoe2 @kodzukein @lostsomewhereinthegarden @cashout-princess @aliyxh-o @kay-bear200 @iluv-ace @vixensbrainrotts @missgab @urmomsksk @sweeytheart @charcoal-xl @uradveragewhore @wcayaw @blueberry-hedonist @haikyuusboringassmanager @diana-005 @perilous-pasta @kokoscutie @kannaaa015 @abadonkori @kokoch4n3l @aliss0n-love-blog @eattmeowt

monica's notes: whew, so this was supposed to be like 5k words and put up on friday, but then network went out. then i was feeling kinda down and decided to edit it a little and by the time i realized how far i had gone it was 2am sunday morning and 12k words 😭 hell i almost forgot i was writing dark content and thought i was writing a shoujo manga at some point until i got to the part where she wandered off into the kitchen 😭 thank you all for being paitent with me and for those who i asked for advice ❤ i love yall mwah. Chapter 5 is this friday.

Oh don't forget to comment and reblog and send asks. I'm always happy to answer

#tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers fluff #tokyo revengers x reader smut #tokyo revengers x reader angst #mikey x reader #manjiro sano x reader smut #manjiro sano x reader #izana x reader #izana kurokawa x reader smut #izana smut #mikey smut #shinichiro sano #shinichiro x reader #shinichiro x reader smut #fem reader

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yoru-no-seiiki · 10 months

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VILLAIN! READER WITH A YAN! MASOCHISTIC! PROTAGONIST

tw/cw: DDNE, mentions of abuse, actual abuse (by reader), implied parental neglect. protagonist’s gender is whatever you want it to be. gn pronouns.

[ second part ]

MINORS & AGELESS BLOGS DNI OR I WILL BLOCK YOU.

You wholeheartedly believed that you’d rule the world one day. The oracles deemed it so, and the rest followed. The only problem being is that you’d rule with an iron fist, causing the death of millions under your tyrannical reign. Many opposed your position as heir to the throne.

In comes the protagonist, your adopted sibling who is also destined for great things. The difference being is that they’ll gain it through defeating you.

Everyday is a murderfest with you trying to kill the kid but because of plot armor they’re resistant to any and all sorts of spells, weapons and even people you’ve hired.

Yan! Protagonist who had been abused their entire life saw this as just an act of love. Even moreso since you were so determined to hurt them everyday. It must mean you adored them does it not? They don’t understand why they’re not able to die or properly get hurt by you though, so at times they’ll even try to get in your way to make it easier.

But this just ends up with you hating them further and further.

As the two of you grow up, tactics start to become even more underhanded and deadly. You had lost all sense of empathy and kindness at this point. You had also halted trying to hide your attempts as your sibling clearly knew of it anyways.

But with your duties increasing as well, you are unable to execute much of your assassination attempts much less see your sibling directly. It came to the point of dull poisoning plots of which Yan! Protagonist had literally gained an immunity to with how frequent it was.

Yan! Protagonist never wanted to become ruler. A kingdom was far too much to manage and think about. All they wanted was to relax and be with you.

But with you being all busy and ignoring them. . . they simply can not stand idle and let this be!

And so they throw themselves into their studies. Those that doubted the Protagonist are now in awe of the way they picked up things in addition to their overflowing determination. They must really want to take you down.

Unbeknownst to them, they were simply doing this so you’d go back to giving them your attention.

Years after you’d officially taken the throne, they barged into castle. Thousands of troops behind them as they declared,

—

“Exalted sibling, I’ve come to take the burden of the throne from your hands!” The protagonist stood before you in all their glory. Magnificent as the scriptures had foretold. Absolutely befitting for the next in line for the throne. Blessed with a face sculpted by the gods.

You wanted nothing more rip it from their skull and watch the blood rain down on their regal clothing.

“You’ll have to take it from my cold, dead body.”

The protagonist froze in their tracks. Your words and pure confusion taking a while to settle in.

Wait, what?

. . . to be continued

Anyways that’s just a smol part from one of my webtoon ideas i’ve been writing haha. It probably won’t be expanded on until I officially published that one and it’s like further down the list of webtoon order so oop-

©️ yoru.no.seiiki - yun | 2023

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sweet-herbal-peach-tea · 1 month

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TKATB Theories

Evidently spoilers ahead for chapters 1 and 2!!

This is my analysis and theories based on 3 character's we got intense lore drops for including Sol, Crowe, and Hyugo.

CW: mentions of drugs, and implied abuse,

SPOILERS UTC!

Credit for header goes to the wonderful @arklayraven

HYUGO

So, the recent lore drop for Hyugo was crazyyyy. The whole thing about him and Geo being brothers was implied especially with Geo's introduction on Fantasia's twt where he talks about disliking Hyugo. There definitely has to be a reason beyond sibling bickering to why Geo dislikes Hyugo. Whether it's Hyugo's vigilante tendencies or his connection with a potential crime syndicate.

One of my theories is that possibility Geo and Hyugo's father are a part of the syndicate or some kind of organizer. The reason Geo possibly despises Hyugo so much could be due to the fact he believes Hyugo is so heavily intertwined in the world of crime? I guess we'll find out in the next few chapters??

SPEAKING OF HYUGO'S CONNECTIONS TO CRIME?? THE SECRET ENDING??

Okay so idk if Hyugo is skipping town in both endings but I think regardless of what choices we've made he'll be skipping town bc of the events that took place in the theatre. Whether we were present or not. What I think hints towards this is the particular ending we get when we go to the arcade and when Hyugo asks us to "take care of Sol". Then he smiles and leaves. It may not be as obvious at face value, but I do think we won’t see him for a good while.

ALSO, the deal he made with Sol??

I think it has to do something with definitely gathering information on us, or it could be as someone else said supplying Sol with sleeping pills. However, I think it's implied that Sol does unfortunately missuses them, but they are intended for Sol to be able to get sleep.

More than likely I think the simpler version of their deal would consist of Hyugo keeping quiet of Sol's list of many many crimes, and Sol doing the same for him.

CROWE

I think will generally be the shortest, however I think my theories for him are more based on context clues and reading between the lines rather than baseless conjecture.

As we know literature and double meanings play an extremely important role in this visual novel. We see this in reference to Anabel Lee and the constant references between our past and the poem and how each verse links each chapter.

Where getting to in this is during Crowe's route when he asks for the MC's opinion on Marie Antionette. In the answers we give he seems to take them to heart, and when a negative opinion of her is brought up he seems to take them strangely to heart.

It is clearly evident is some way shape or form Crowe is somehow connected to the man that took our farm away. I think it is most likely that he is Crowe's father. Crowe evidently feels guilty about the place he takes and the role that he is forced into in regard to our debt. He more than likely can’t say anything either out of guilt or second party purposes. Regardless he is obviously trying his best to support the MC from the sidelines in any way he can.

I love Crowe… :( My sweetybear snookums pie…

SOL

ughhhh this man.

I love him but he's clearly insane. Okay let's talk about him bc I have so much to say.

My first theory unfortunately is my least favorite, and it is that potentially MC is not Sol's first soulmate, and he is projecting an image of someone else long gone onto us as the MC.

My reasoning behind this theory is because of his views of rebirth, death, and life. Specifically on two occasions that really made me think of this.

During the conversation you have with him in the library after making the decision to sit on his lap you ask him about his interpretation of the poem Annabel Lee, which the game takes heavy inspiration from. During this conversation Sol speaks of "being separated by death" and it's followed by Sol's responds in a fast dialogue something along the lines of "I won’t. it won’t happen again." Which leads me to believe we may potentially remind him of someone in his life that has passed.

There's also a second dialogue during day 02 which sparked this idea, in which based on the player's pronoun options Hyugo says something along the lines of "you remind me of her/him/them." It's unknown if Hyugo and Sol are childhood friends, but if it is likely then it may confirm that we remind Hyugo and Sol of an entirely separate person.

The only thing that sways me away from this theory other than the fact I detest the idea of it is during Crowe's route on day 02 when Sol mentions something about how…

"It has always been you, Ichabod."

This line could imply a multitude of things really. This could also imply that he generally detests the family due to the fact that they play a role in the MC's suffering. However, for now, I'll diverge into a separate theory that definitely more likely being Sol somehow knows us from childhood.

I like the theory that a fanfiction author pointed out that our farm may have been near the sea, and the reason why Sol detests it so much is due to the fact we the MC were separated from him, and the sea may remind him of that.

There are also these implications of the flowers in his hair in Fantasia's braiding hair post with the "forget me nots" in his hair.

I also believe the key carries around him has something to do with our past as well. Given that in fantasia ask box when someone asked about how Sol and MC first met, he actively fiddles and plays with the key that he wears? Where does it unlock? Where does it go to?? Only the lord knows.

BUT ALSO?? SEPERATE NOTE?? FINAL THEORY AND IMPLICATION?? THE NSFW ENDING ON DAY 02??

Seeing Sol's back in the last CG absolutely broke my heart. It's clear that his back is riddled with bruises and burn scars clearly from recent abuse. (after my second check I also noticed his stomach with bruises??)

Obviously out of respect for fantasia's terms I will not link it nor post it, but it's there in game and I recommend other theorists checking it out.

The reason why I say recent is due to the fact that if they were just scars, we most likely would have seen the marks features in Day 01's NSFW art, seeing as it also has his stomach exposed.

Again, this all conjecture, and they could be in places we couldn’t have seen.

On the subject of scars, I think it's also evident that Sol is more than likely hiding a scar on his neck or some sort of burn scar behind it. He's extremely self-conscious about his looks, and Fantasia has stated that his choker will more than likely stay on at all times when he's with his soulmate.

The side however, and its coverage eludes me considering the only time we've seen Sol's neck is in art Fantasia has given us (but his neck is covered with a scarf or ribbon). The only time we see a little smidgen of his neck is in the Day 01 NSFW ending, but it's barely anything to form a for sure statement on!

I think here is where I'll wrap up my theories for now!! Thank for reading this extremely long yap fest! Fantasia if you are reading this I just wanted to say I love your game and I love Sol!! Hope he knows this very much! Thank you for your hard work and I hope your internship goes well!

Very excited for the future of this wonderful game! I will now go lock in for finals season! This is peach signing off!

#tkatb vn #katb vn #tkatb sol #solivan brugmansia #tkatb spoilers #the kid at the back vn #the kid at the back sol

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intotheelliwoods · 2 months

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This is Part 2! Part 1 can be found here...

Sprout... hey Sprout... we love you Sprout... we wish only the best for you, you are doing amazing Sprout. I promise you will feel better after your much needed breakdown here <3 we are all cheering you on

Apologies for the cliffhanger, we will check in with Poptart sometime soon~

Masterpost

#tw implied sibling death #cw implied sibling death #implied character death #rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rise leo #leonardo hamato #I have been waiting for this update for so long.....#I wrote 75% of the dialogue back in August 2023....#6 months ago!#I am probably going to self rb this update later #I am very happy with it-#after this though sprout is def going to be more cheery #2 arms left #<- haha oops forgor au tag

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s0fti3w1tch · 10 months

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saw a post on the bird app about "what's your art range" or something, so I decided to compile this real quick before going to bed.

#regular buwan blog #cw for the drawings -> (implied or otherwise)#tw sibling death #tw blood #tw eyestrain #tw injury

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controld3vil · 1 year

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what she sow

PAIRING(S): AEMOND TARGARYEN X TARG!READER, AEGON II TARGARYEN X TARG!READER SYNOPSIS: Alicent sees herself in you. Her once-wild spirit dissolved in the flames of missed adventures and leisure. Before duty took her life away. But like her father, Alicent was bound to the realm. She scolds you whenever you make a brash comment or clash with your siblings. Out of everyone, Alicent finds comfort in talking to you but knows it’s a double-edged sword. You spoke truthfully and gave her the harsh reality every time. That you were a stubborn Targaryen. NOTES: - this one shot mostly revolves around the reader's life & perspective. implied relationships are referenced but aren't the main focus of this story. - excuse all grammar mistakes !! - cw: targcest; there are subtle hints but not explicit. if you’re uncomfortable, please do not read

DRIFTMARK was not as welcoming in its pursuit to give you comfort. You never favored the sea - it was a thousand miles away from your homeland. The grim-looking castle stood towering on its own, surrounded by the open ocean. The sun hid in the morrow today, and so did the radiant blue sky. You could feel a tinge of sadness as you glimpsed up into the void of dusty clouds. Regardless of the ceremony, the empty hole in your chest would not waver. The High Tide, a section of the Driftmark castle, was where most people visited in sorrow.

And as you stepped down onto the cold cobblestone, you took a deep breath. The apparent death of Laena Velaryon gathered many loved ones. She had only passed away a few days prior. Laena failed to give birth to her third child, her son. If not worse, Ser Vaemond persistently recited in high Valyrian. You understood the parts and pieces of what he was saying. In the memory of Laena Velaryon, let the Driftmark waves guide her soul toward peace. Or something like that you couldn’t decipher quickly enough.

You stood by, with your dark cloak next to your mother and siblings. Ser Criston made sure to stand by Alicent's right side. Your father, King Viserys, First in his name, was held by two knights, underseeing the ceremony in utmost sorrow. But compared to his children and wife, they were motionless and could not express empathy. You heard stories of Laena in your younger years. Your aunt and her family resided in Pentos, a thousand miles away from King's Landing. It was inevitable, partly because she was never interested nor cared.

You, the secondborn, did not want to bring shame to your family. But the Driftmark ceremony was tedious and cold. Not to mention, you knew no one besides the residents from King’s Landing. Staring at the ocean, you hope no one is looking at you for not paying your respects to your late aunt. Nothing on this god-forsaken island was worth contemplating. You knew this trip was dull as the most intriguing thing you sought out were the rigid rocks and dried-up seashells.

After the ceremony, the atmosphere became more relaxed. As residents and families alike walked on the canopy and talked. Your mother and Ser Criston Cole hesitantly stared at your father, who was seated in the center. You were holding your mother’s hand when she spoke to you.

“Go to your brothers and sister. Find comfort in them.”

You nod with haste, wanting to seek a sense of comfortability. Being surrounded by the unknown residents of Laena Velaryon did not please you. Why wouldn’t it? You never attended a funeral until now. It felt foreign, more uncomfortable than the grand parties back at King’s Landing.

You jog towards the nearest tent with drinks and tarts. The salted aroma of the sea was murky but diverged terribly with the freshly baked loaves of bread. Taking note of your presence, a servant girl presented a tray, a new batch of bread with various stuffings.

Politely thanking her, you grab the largest one. Sadly before you could delve into your savory snack, your brother’s obnoxious voice came down like a snap of a whip.

“I can't marry her.”

“You have to - it’s your duty.”

“You marry her then!”

“I would perform my duty to pass on the Valyrian bloodline.”

“She's an idiot– ow!”

“Not as idiotic as you,” Aemond turned to his right to find you, munching on a pastry. The same pastry you split into pieces and threw at your older sibling. Aegon lets out a scowl. “You were never suited for duty.”

“Pardon me,” The eldest son suddenly felt the urge to correct your claims. “I never said I'd refuse mother's marriage pact – Better yet, you should be envious of me and our sister. We’d be the first to marry in the family, performing our duties.”

“Mother says she will be our future queen.” Aemond jumps in, gazing at Helaena’s oblivious mumbling. His claims were purely harmless, though it was something your mother wanted you all to understand. Duty came necessary to bring to the realm. Sacrifices would be bargained with afterward.

Ignoring his words, you faced him head-on. “Call her an idiot again and I'll sever your tongue and feed it to the rats at King’s Landing.”

“That's awfully far from here, sister. Are you sure you can make it back on Gaelithox? Without plunging into the deep sea bottom?" He taunts, knowing it would only agitate you. Your dragon, Gaelithox, shared many qualities with you. Even after claiming him on your fifth-name day, you had trouble controlling him. He was not pleased whenever you mounted on his back. Numerous times, he jolted you off his saddle out of aggravation. Aegon could recite all the times you puffed annoyedly, pleading with the dragon as if he listened.

“Then I will feed you to Gaelithox. I'm sure he would enjoy a cunt for a meal,” You barked, trudging towards where Halaena sat. You knew what you said was disrespectful. Your mother would most definitely reprimand you if she heard. Calling your brother a cunt was prohibited. You spoke out of turn and will accept the consequences if Aegon or Aemond decides to tell your pesky mother. “Helaena, have you been sitting here all day?”

“Fret not dear sister, I've caught a spider,” Conversing with Helaena always soothed your sanity. You had a soft spot for her, attending to her mumbling and infatuation with insects. “Rivaling disorder will come to shake the tides. Solitude will not prevail.”

“Then we shall prepare for the tides,” Seizing your sister’s arm to head inside the castle. The cold and eerie palace. One that corresponded to King’s Landing but did not offer the reassurance your home did. “Come! Let’s rest!”

THERE WAS an inkling urge to rip all of the strings you’ve conducted. It didn’t look right. Embroidery was a lady’s sport, the representation of articulated beauty. Out of all of the girls, Helaena was the most skilled. She could’ve woven a thousand portraits and never gotten tired. The threads continually overlapped each other as she hemmed the final knot. She replaces the string with a different color and starts again.

“The trick is to keep track of the number of loops you’ve made,” She says, finding her rhythm in her work. Seeing your sister at ease consoled you. Her soft-spoken words were like an old childhood melody.

Sweet and soft.

Helaena never raised her voice. Only when she came to the world did her cries screech throughout the Red Keep. As a babe, you had no conscious memory. However, Helaena’s squealing gave you such a fright, you screamed. The mutual linger of anxiety was the only reminder of your genesis. It was a fuzzy recollection that periodically hovered in your head. For such an innocent girl, her cries would be the last thing you wanted to hear.

“What if you lose track?” You idly gaped at your sister’s handiwork. It was exquisite, resembling the sigil of the three-headed dragons.

“Then you best retrace the loops from the last knot you started on.” She giggled, tugging the needle in and out of the fabric. “Septa Rhea taught us that together!”

You beamed, “My apologies sister. I've forgotten.” You both knew that was sarcasm. You didn’t care as much as Helaena did about embroidery. A lady’s sport. Many things distinguished you unbecoming of a lady, and sewing was the least of your concern.

“At least understand the basic maneuvering of the needle, dear sister,” Your twin teased, slowly beaming as the corner of her lips moved upwards. “Mother would be upset if you abandoned your duties.”

“I have been practicing! No need to worry.”

“Even dragons lose their footing,” Helaena lightheartedly said. “Some may tumble into the sea like flightless birds…”

Your eyes quirk up to process her remarks. You couldn’t help but devilishly grin. “How dare you-!” Abandoning your work, you tackled her to the ground. Both of you giggled but were abruptly interrupted by the sounds of servants.

“Princess Rhaeryna is going into labor! Quickly bring the maesters!”

It stuns the two of you, ascending from the rug to pat down your gowns.

“We should visit our sister to help! I hear the birthing chambers is where many women gather to aid the–”

“It’s best if we do not intrude,” Helaena pats her skirt one last time and hauls you out of the room and down the passageway. “Mother would disapprove of such things.” Alicent forbade any of her children to even be in sight of Rhaeryna and her children. Her childhood friend was now a stranger to her. The discourtesy she bestowed on Velaryon and Targaryen's lineage was unrepairable. And the Queen Mother made sure to enlighten her children in such manners constantly.

“Follow your duties properly and the realm will be protected,” she said, caressing the heads of her four children one night. Her four children nodded, all too young to recall her words.

That afternoon, you roamed close to the gardens of King's Landing. They were nearly in color as winter was approaching its end. The flower bushes looked withered due to the frigid temperature. But soon they will prosper from their slumber, luminous with rich colors. Strolling down the gravel lanes, you pass by Jacaerys and Lucerys. Grabbing their attention, you ask them where they were running.

“We are going to the Dragon’s Pit! You’re welcome to join us.” Jace smiles while Luke nods with delight. The two of them were affixed on you whenever you joined them. Feasts, sword fights, or chasing through the Red Keep, they have become fond of your company. In the absence of your siblings' love, you were present whenever they asked.

“I’d be delighted to!”

In the waiting years for your egg to hatch, your father and the council members were worried whether your dragon would hatch. It was custom for a dragon egg to hatch at the same time as the birth of a Targaryen, becoming their life companion. But the dragon keepers reassured the king that patience was crucial.

Eventually, the gods shined brightly on you at the age of five. Despite many stares and pity whispers, you dismissed them. Even as a small child you were strong-minded and kept your thoughts clean out of criticism and jealousy. In a sense, Galitheox was alike — having to endure five years of isolation, unable to break away from the shells of dependency. You too felt imprisoned - the two of you in fire and blood were twisted in the bloodline and hierarchy of fidelity.

The day you recall the faint cracking sounds over the fire was one of the most rewarding days in your life. In excitement, you attempted to grab the egg but the dragon keepers defied your touch.

“You mustn’t touch, princess. Dragon eggs desire a place where they’re most comfortable.”

After you visited the Dragon Pit, your mother scolded Aegon and you. You were not involved in Aegon’s and Rhaeryna’s children's schemes but it did not bypass Alicent. She was enraged, more apprehensive about the reputation and well-being of her second son.

“You mustn't ridicule your younger brother. You know how passionate he is to have a dragon!”

You grimaced in silence when you saw the pig with wings strapped around its belly. Your older brother relished teasing, and he would giggle in delight at the humiliation of others. It was something you developed to distaste, a bad and annoying habit.

You felt your stomach pile with remorse at their laughter. You defended Aemond that day but were heavily criticized by their taunts. Your anger rose when they suggested you fetch your dragon to fly with Aemond. Everyone eventually exploded into name-calling that would’ve escalated into a physical fight. Fortunately, because of the distressed company of your younger brother, you held against it.

“It was only for mere amusement, mother—!”

“It should not and never will be! You brought shame into this family and humiliated your younger brother!” Alicent screeched, seizing both of Aegon’s fair arms. He had no clothes on, an appearance you were familiar with now.

Moping, you gazed down at your feet. You felt awful for not protecting Aemond. You treated him with respect since he was a babe. But you lacked the care your mother had for all of her children. Your protectiveness of him was relentless, yet you did not know how to console him, to reassure him of his insecurities. You accept ten times the admiration you deserve.

Calmly, Queen Alicent ushered her secondborn out of the room.

Sundown was mere minutes away as you strolled through the dimmed galleries. Dinner would come soon. And affairs were problematic to reminisce about. The Kingguards stationed around the palace peeked at you in question. The orange sky laminated brightly as the clouds surrounding King’s Landing grew darker. When night falls, the faint sounds of insects and chirping appear. The servant maidens who had completed their chores whispered in the dark corners. And the septas in the garden carefully minded their tongue, aware of Targaryen’s predicaments. Everyone in the palace was accustomed to the disputes all princes had.

The legitimacy of Jacaerys and Lucerys was always on the top of their tongues. It will never fade as long as they live. You wonder if their mother scolded them for the recent incident. Rhaeryna’s and Alicent’s relationship had plummeted out of existence since the birth of Aegon II. And the servant girls were naïve enough to whisper in hollow halls. You heard numerous rumors when Rhaeryna disregarded her father’s order to wed. And how Alicent’s proposal for marriage contradicted Laena Velaryron's. It saddens you how the deep scars of your family's past revoke the realm.

You weren’t mindful of where you were until the door of Rhaeryna Targaryen was in front of you. It was as if your consciousness wanted to find her. Would she allow you? Rhaeryna despised all of Alicent’s children, as someone said to you. Replace her legitimacy from the Iron Throne. You hoped it was not the case because your mother was inclined to pursue her duties as the second wife.

She never spoke to you only in telepathic stares. Her lilac eyes forever grimaced at yours, a gesture you could never recuperate. Knocking a few times, you voiced your greetings and asked for her presence. The doors were slightly open and only allowed light inside. The first time you saw Rhaeryna in days, she looked radiant. She was glowing with the aftermath of her pregnancy - sweat still presents on her forehead. She looked weary and slightly disoriented at the sudden visit.

Rhaeryna lets out a sigh at your name. “Please come in.” she smiles, which shocks you. She never smiled at you. “I apologize for the mess. I wasn’t expecting any visitors as the maesters have ordered me to rest…” Rhaeryna pushed her arms to allow entry. You strode into the room. Close behind you, your older sister shut the doors and found a suitable seat in her lounge.

For as long as you can recall, the firstborn of Viserys Targaryan and Aemma Arryn was fierce. She had a reputation as the first female heir declared to the Iron Throne. It fascinated you. Rhaeryna was given the duty of the realm at such a young age. Her purpose to wedlock children was now more demanding than ever. It was the power that was given to her that made her fierce. And the more desirable.

“I congratulate you on the birth of your third son, Princess.” You nervously chirped up, taking a seat across from her. “Pregnancy is a terrifying thing for all women. Yet you’ve done it three times.”

She laughs, buckling her chin down. The atmosphere felt bizarre because you’d never had a casual conversation with your half-sister. “I suppose you’re correct with that matter,” Rhaeryna mumbles, looking at you with those lavender hues. The same lavender hues from years before. “I thank you, Princess…” She acknowledged the atmosphere was tense. “Would you like to see him…?”

Your eyes widened in surprise. “If you would allow it.”

“Come…” Your half-sister rises and puts a hand on her hip. “But you must be quiet since Joffrey’s been sleeping for quite some time.”

Rising, you immediately ran to her side and supported her weight. Rhaeryna beams up again and directs you to his crib. In quiet paddles, you could hear your nephew's tiny snores. His dark brown curls were the first thing that caught your eye. You mindlessly cursed at yourself for bringing up bad habits.

Taking a deep breath, you admired his other features. The silence you two shared was sublime. Staring down from the top of his lips to his tiny hands, you felt smitten. The babe was only a few hours old, but you wanted to spoil him rotten. The light blush he had reminded you of Rhaerynas. The sunset was beautiful, yet your nephew's face was more divine. The orange hues of sunlight highlighted his chubby cheeks. Joffrey’s long lashes resembled the smallest feathers.

“Beautiful, isn’t he?”

IN THE late evening at King’s Landing, the palace grows weary, and so have their residents. Dinner was tolerable - all the council meetings were pleased with their progress. The royal family was escorted back into their chambers to rest while the Kingsguard lurked around the shadows. Candles lit in every corner of the castle were burned out. Only a few in each corridor stood, barely hanging onto life.

As the moon slowly ascends, the sun goes down to rest. It was the same with those who resided in the kingdom of Westeros. The Queen Mother and her children descended to their bed chambers. As the servant girls followed the second-born daughter, she loosened her shoulders. The day was tiring as her mother demanded more of her time and assistance. Tedious and time-consuming.

Hence when the bubbling bath finally simmered, all of the maids huddled over the tub. One sprayed essential oils of lavender - another scattered small rose petals. The three remaining girls assembled around your body and began to unbind your laces. The dark crimson (almost velvet) dress hung down your hips luxuriously. It was one of your more favored dresses, gifted from the fine maker in Essos. The stitching of the swirls was intricately sewn, highlighting your curves.

It brought your title as a princess to the highest order. No man or woman could defy such beauty. The Targaryen characteristics only accentuated your playful charm. And those violet orbs that can pierce any living creature with a single stare. It glows between the moonlight like embers of a volcano. From the neck down, you remain poised. But on the occasion of a full moon, you loosen the tension between your shoulders.

Stripped down to your garments, you slipped out of them. There was a sense of comfort in these domestic times alone. You felt at peace as you climbed into the tub. The soft sizzling eased your body as you moved further down. The heat never harmed the Targaryens - it sympathized with you. The fireplace behind you was the only light source in the room. It chaotically twinkled, burning through the logs beneath them. The smell of incense lingered - like sweet wine waiting to be drunk. After a long day regarding your mothers' necessities, you wanted to disappear from the world.

You should no longer exist.

However, that dream will never come true, as the doors breached open - your train of thought with a dreadful visitor. “Princess, the Queen,” You sigh and gesture to the maidens. As soon as the doors open, your mother waltzes in hastily. She looked like she was in a hurry to get here. Alicent's brows were full of tension, and her mouth was slightly open in exasperation.

“Leave us,” She said, looking down at you. The doors suddenly closed. The room was hers to initiate. “I have some news to share with you.”

“What is it?”

“Well—“ Her breath staggers as she stumbles towards the nearby couch. Your eyes linger down at her clammy hands. Your mother, the Queen Mother, was anxious about what she was about to disclose. “Your grandsire and I have settled to wed Aegon and Helaena.”

Alicent had to flip a coin every time she spoke to you. You could explode, like a firework - if it displeased you. Or become soft and docile like a dragon - lazily resting in the Dragon's Keep. But both alternatives can be bittersweet. So when she made the decision, you had to be the first one to know. Not even Aegon or Helaena were aware of the news. If not for Viserys as king, she would’ve appointed you onto the counsel if she wanted. Alicent relied on your morals and decision-making.

But sometimes it came with a price.

“What…? Why—?”

“It was inevitable - but now, we have chosen a date,” She clasped her hands together, preventing herself from shaking. “For the ceremony.”

“Why have you come to me first–?”

“Because I trust you, sweet dear, more than anyone,” The last part was a lie. Alicent wanted to assure you that she still does have faith in you. “Aegon will be king - Helaena will be queen—“

“No… she shouldn’t!” You grimaced at her, dragging your knees to your chest. Even in the haste of rage, your disheveled state looked beautiful. “Why would she marry that twat? Their marriage will cease to exist the moment it is declared.”

“She is the most suitable. Helaena has shown devotion to her duties and will not fight against it.”

“Then I will!” Your slouched back straightens. “Why would you let her be married off to our cunt of a brother—?”

The slip of your name hangs on her tongue. With a sharp inhale, her lips narrow. “Hold your tongue.”

“Do you have no respect for her?! When she marries that idiot, he will treat her with no respect and love! Without devotion, their marriage will crumble. Her children will suffer the same fate!“

“She will be performing her duty!”

“What duty?!” You cried, face filled with burning rage. There was a contortion of emotions on Alicent’s face. Anger makes you look more beautiful. Because when your patience is at its peak of erupting, chaos debuts. “Why would you sacrifice your children for duty? Why is duty more important than your children?”

Sacrifice for duty? You were speaking nonsense, Alicent deciphers. She was more than willing to face you herself after dinner. All of the preparations have concluded with a check on a pamphlet. The Queen Mother had known the wedding would not be triumphant if not for her children’s well-being. You were the first she had to console - let you understand why she must accept this proposition. But the claims you made disbanded her attempts at peace.

“Why? Because duty is sacrifice!” Vice versa, your mother's fury had just begun. It was as if the two of you wanted to add more firewood to the burning fire. “To uphold the Targaryen bloodline is to maintain its course.”

“Then you don’t care for your children,” You ridicule back with a sneer. “Helaena should not marry him! She should have the freedom to do so!”

“Then who would you let her marry?!”

“Someone more kind and considerate. More attentive than our brother because she deserves far more than all of the suitors in Westeros. She is the righteous figure of beauty. She should at least be happy! I want her to be happy!” Angry tears sprung out your eyelids, blinding you to your mother’s shattered face. “Aegon doesn’t deserve her… She should have the right to do so….”

A minute passed, and all Alicent could think of was the look on your face. She has seen you broken down before but never torn to pieces like this. Your protectiveness over your sister was something she envied. The two of you had each other, never to be alone. She tries to clear her throat but fails.

On the other hand, silence offers you a moment to ponder. You felt shameful of your outburst, of shouting at your mother over a trivial matter of love. But you wanted Helaena to be free and content. It was an impossible justification as arranged marriages were more political arrangements. It pained you to envision how your sister would feel. Dressed in her wedding gown, she would have the most pristine and painful smile. It should be you in the Citadel, offering your freedom to the gods.

Your better half deserved that much.

“I understand your doubts, darling… I really do,” The Queen’s watery eyes trail back to you - and hesitantly rose up from her seat. Your body felt chilly even in the hot boiling bath. “But this is the only way. Rhaeryna had once asked for Helaena’s hand for her son, Jacaerys. I could not let her son have it her way…”

You hummed deliberately. She had mentioned Jacaerys proposal once before - it did not bother you. Jacerys always had a kind heart and was quite fond of you and your younger sister. However, the Queen Mother was grudgingly displeased with Rhaeryna’s children. Her sons and their dark curly hair and lack of Velaryon qualities.

You looked up at her, unaware of how close she was to the tub. “Then wed Aegon to me.”

It takes a second for Alicent to process what you just said. “W-what—? Dear, I don’t understand—“

“Wed him to me.” Sorrow filled your eyes. You lifted your head to meet her with a bitter smile. Your blonde hair posed carefully on your shoulders, slightly skimming the water. “I will deal with him right. He will obey.” Your mother acknowledged the strange fondness the two of you had. The two of you had a familiar sense of humor and danger. He would waste his ways with his whores. While you distracted yourself with old men about philosophy. Aegon tolerated you, unlike Aemond and Helaena - who did not stand for his despicable banters.

“You’re right…” For once, the Queen agrees with her daughter. Perhaps Aegon was the ideal match for you. However, she recalls the harsh critiques her father had of you.

She is far from a lady. Her redundancy to those ferocious beasts is beneath her. The princess is unbecoming of her maiden’s duties.

Your mother brushes a few strands of hair behind your right ear. A single teardrop ran down your face, taking in the shape of your face - she takes in the cruel truth.

“It’s too late for that… Your grandsire expects the preparations in a few days…” Your expression drops slightly, a habit you picked up from Alicent. Viserys protectiveness and her witted mouth - you brought out the best of the Hightowers and worst of the Targaryens. No longer should she demean your judgment - the truth that could’ve saved her children from years of torment and isolation.

“My cunt of a grandsire is as demanding as ever….” And for the first time, she didn’t mind you calling her father a cunt. She softly chuckles, taking in the heat and light from the fireplace.

THE SMALL rubbles of sand leaped back and forth as the royal carriage came to a stop. The Kingsguard in front of the entry of King’s Landing did not flinch, bearing on their duties. The frigid weather did not suit Westeros. The air was tense as the doors opened to reveal Princess Rhaeryna and her family.

Residing in Dragonstone was a calculated conclusion for Rhaeryna. Kings Landing only brought awful memories from her childhood. As she stared at the castle, disappointment shielded her eyes. Westeros’s King’s Landing did not change — it was like steel, lingering for the rust to overwhelm its bare roots. She did not miss the people or the nostalgic conformity. She ignored her thoughts and stepped forward, carefully holding her swollen belly. Her husband, Daemon, and sons came out after her. And her niece, Rhaena stood beside her, sensing her distress.

They all knew arriving here would be uneasy. But for Lucery’s claim to the Driftmark throne, Rhaeryna was determined. No one should challenge her children’s claims and indirectly spit in her face.

Ser Vaemond Velaryon should’ve rotted in the Stepstones a long time ago.

“Have you spoken to the dragon keepers about this predicament, Princess?”

“Not quite, though I’m sure they won’t have anything to say,” You worriedly march towards the desk full of scrolls and parchments. Trailing your fingers over all the papers, you search for the particular piece about dragon scales. “Gaelithox grows weary day by day. And there’s nothing I can do.”

You inspected all the dragons in the Dragon’s Pits during your study. You relished learning their manners and habits. But one of the unknown, not even the Seven could deduce, was the changes your dragon had. Gaelithox was ill, or so you thought. A cold? He wasn’t in severe conditions but was consistently troubled and did not desire to fly like usual. His albino scales were slowly flaking off like the skin of a snake. One by one, his scales fall off, revealing a darker shade, a dusty gray.

The dragon keepers could not come up with an explanation for this mystery. Anyone knowledgeable about dragons was gone - very few were in the presence of these giant beasts. Your dragon, your sole companion, was fighting an unknown condition. Yet you could not do anything about it. Gaelithox nuzzled against your frame - every time you spoke to him. He sighs - reassuring you it is not as painful as you feared.

“He’s as stubborn as a mule,” Sighing discreetly, you did not see your lady-in-waiting, Kiara. She patiently pauses and allows you to finish your conversation with the maester. “I cannot continue my research if he’s unwell.”

“You have more than enough time, Princess. His sickness will pass. Many of the maesters - including myself - will look into this predicament and let you know if we discover anything worthwhile.”

“Princess,” Kiara carefully voices. Your head turns, raising your brows in question. “The Queen requests your presence.” The maester beside you intertwines his hands and bows. You nod and steadily remove yourself from the library. Kiara smiled as you walked with her swiftly. After becoming your lady-in-waiting, she has become your trustful friend. It was rare to have a friend in King's Landing. Kiara took pride in herself - to have gained your trust.

And she knew you were troubled. The news of Ser Vaemond’s ridiculous assembly disturbed you.

After the loss of Aemond’s eye, some part of you changed. You did not understand why, at the time, Lucery's had a knife when nobody else had. He was the only one who held a weapon. Why was it fair for Rhaeryna to claim it as self-defense? In the process, Aemond’s claim about Vhagar angered Laena’s children. The night became more disastrous as the distance between Alicent and Rhaeryna's relationship faded. You held onto your dear sister protectively that night. Your mother was spiraling down in panic while your half-sister stood her ground. Even your father had to intervene and scold the two women. You had never seen him as outraged as he was that night. Viserys never yelled unless regarding his family.

And when he turned to Aegon after Aemond's accusation, you quickly held onto your older brother's arm. Out of fear of Viserys screams and the following events.

Perhaps you would have done something differently if you had more courage. You stare at your mother's back - worriedly pacing back and forth in front of someone's chambers. “Mother,” She jumps in shock. “You wished to see me?”

Queen Alicent flattens her dress. “Yes dear, I would like you to welcome our guests. Rhaeryna and Daemon are already in your father's chambers.”

Your eyebrows rose in immediate anger. “Why have you not informed me sooner?”

“I apologize, sweet darling,” Your mother rubs your arms consolingly. “I was… caught up in a council meeting.”

You thought about making a hasty remark but denied it. Nodding with a soft smile, you stepped back. “I will greet Rhaenrya and Daemon accordingly. It has been a long time since we last saw them.” Before your mother could say anything, you headed to the king’s chambers.

Alicent saw it coming. She failed to inform you of your half-sister's return. But you knew it was inevitable - no one was pleased for the heir to the Iron Throne to return. Many of the residents in King’s Landing were not fond of her from the start. Your steps speed up. Kiara, behind you, desperately tries to catch up. She calls for you to slow down - but you ignore her.

Entering the chambers of King Viserys, you notice your sister’s posture. She was stiff - standing beside her husband, sitting on an armchair near the fireplace. Both their expressions were in surprise to not be greeted by the Queen, but her daughter.

“Princess Rhaeryna, Prince Daemon,” You bowed with a genuine smile. “Welcome back to King’s Landing. I hope the trip was not as tedious as you anticipated.”

A playful chuckle erupts from Daemon. Despite your similarities, you two never spoke to one another. Though there are times - you hoped he would reach out and bond with you. His dragon, Caraxes, was exquisite, adorning itself in red blood scales. Stories say that when he arrived at the Step Stones, Caraxes burned hundreds of their enemies on the shoreline. Millions of burnt bodies lay on the sandy floor. You thought his efforts were admirable.

Your sister’s face morphs in relief. Her furrowed brows no longer tensed in thought, she returns the smile. “Thank you,” She breathes your name in hesitation. It’s been many years since the two of you spoke. You hoped she had fond memories with you when she still lived in King’s Landing. “It’s good to see a familiar face. None of the others dared to greet us at the gates.”

Your bitterness towards your mother was boiling.

“I do apologize. The council members were occupied, discussing regional matters —“

“You seem to have decorated the place quite nicely. Why is that?” Daemon’s tone stunned you. He sounded aggravated, more so teasing. Your lilac eyes trailed back to his like magnets. With his head slightly down and slumped posture, you felt intimidated. “You allow the Hightowers to plunder in with their pretty lights and stars. Did they remove the Targaryen flags as well?”

You felt as if he was pointing the blame toward you. Even when you had no control over which sigil to display in King’s Landing - it was as if you were playing a game of chess with him. He had just taken one of your pawns.

“Due to the King’s sickness, the Queen has taken matters into her own hands.” Your lips draw a narrow line. “And the council members do as they please.”

You wanted to block his attacks - to prevent checkmate. If you wanted to insult him, you would have - but the company of your dear sister was present.

“And have the maesters been able to deal with our father's sickness?” Her tone is more delicate than Daemon’s, more promising. Rhaeryna has always tried to maintain mutualism between her family but forever failed. You applaud her for her attempts. “Does he sleep all day in bed? Moaning like a dying dog?”

Her last sentence made your heart jump. You would have expected her to smile again - but she doesn't and holds Daemon’s hand.

“His sickness is inevitable,” You sneer lightly, shielding your hands behind your back. “The maesters tried everything even before you left for Dragonstone. It is an unrecognized sickness no one has witnessed before.” Daemon tightens his grip on Rhaerynas hand. “The councilman and Queen do as they see fit. Regardless of what they do, I have no part in their decisions. You must understand Rhaeryna - the councilmen have firm beliefs for the realm."

“And what do you know about the realm?” Daemon took your last words as an insult. “You, the daughter of my brother's second marriage with a whore of a mother. Tarnishing the Targaryen name with outlandish banners and statues!”

“Daemon enough—!” Rhaeryna snaps, releasing his grip. She steps forward with a stern look.

You glare at your uncle, and the sharpness of your hues brightens. “The maids will escort you to your rooms. I thank you for your patience today - I hope to see you again in the Red Keep… for your son’s illegitimate claim.”

Your eyes meet again mockingly. The rumors of Rhaeryna and Daemon are far more than true. In front of you, their gazes darkened. They were one of the same. Both held more than cruel intentions, glaring holes into your body. You knew you had stepped into the dragon’s pit, two voracious dragons snaring their teeth at you.

You had just lost Rhaeryna’s trust.

That late evening, you harshly plucked at the jewelry adorning your ears and neck. The small candles on your vanity table flickered as your eyes glanced at all the luxurious accessories, then at yourself in the mirror. The radiant blush on your cheeks lightly flushes under the candlelight, lashes carefully fluttering with ease. Your lips lacked tension, the adorning color of roses.

Between the pearls and rubies, you chose the custom-made silvers from the Narrow Seas. The pearls enhanced their diamond edges. You gracefully clipped them onto your ear lobes and unlatched the necklace that came with it. The chain somewhat resembles sea coral. The gold molded into a sea fan, the center representing a large pearl.

Kiara stepped beside you and gave you an approving smile. “They’re beautiful, Princess.”

“A talented jewelry maker gifted this on my fifth and tenth nameday.” You pleasantly reciprocated her smile. “He was a fine man.”

“He certainly had a keen eye,” Your lady-in-waiting teases with a mischievous tone. You couldn’t help but recall that day. It was hot and humid in King’s Landing. Fine carpenters and others stumbled upon your home to offer gifts. You and your sister did not favor extravagant parties. Yet it amused you when men came flocking in with boxes that required more than five men to carry. The man from the Narrow Seas was more than generous as he offered his entire stock. You knew he only did it for the crown. Yet out of all your gifts, his treasures caught your eyes the most. “Are you ready, Princess?”

You hum in approval and lift yourself from your chair. Dinner unexpectedly became a dreadful thing to look forward to. You wished you were flying on Gaelithox instead of being forced to converse with relatives. But then Kiara leads you out of your room and down the corridors. The night had already begun its course.

And when you first entered the dining room, none of your family members had gathered by the dinner table. Everyone was disassembled and socializing with each other. Rhaeryna admires the tapestries alongside her husband while Alicent whispers to the Hand. Aemond and Aegon seem to be chatting away about unknowns to you. And your nieces, Rhaella and Baela, were beside Jacaerys and Lucerys by the fire.

Helaena was chatting with a servant girl when you arrived beside her. “Be sure to feed them after their baths,” The maid nods and heads out.

You took her place and reluctantly snickered. “Have the twins been restless playing with their mother?”

“Quite, actually,” Helaena laughs, adorning her sweet smile you adored dearly. “We had to replace a servant girl in the morrow. It was a sudden request - they weren’t happy about it.”

“They are energetic when they are young.” You sarcastically sigh while Helaena nods similarly. You dearly cherished her twins - they both had the same curious look their mother had. Jaehearys and Jaehaera shared many similarities with Helaena - which made you relieved for many reasons.

A bell rings suddenly - everyone walks to their selected seats. You guide yourself next to your sister’s seat. Beside you, Aemond sits at the end of the table. However, across, your grandsire, Otto Hightower sits in front of you, already observing you as if critiquing your posture. The shuffling of footsteps echoed throughout the room as the Kingsguard carried King Viserys on a small carriage. Your eyes follow his arrival, never breaking eye contact. Everyone stares at the king.

When he sits between his wife and daughter, Viserys groans in pain. Your father stands and brings attention to him. It was a heartwarming speech - one that almost brought you to tears. For the longest time, you never had family dinners with your father. He was often too ill - converging with your siblings was already a daily occurrence. Your mother tries her best to involve everyone in the conversation. It’s awkward - her efforts are rewarded whenever you pitch in at someone's interest. Your small family is not as close as people expect you all to be - but you manage with the time you have with each other.

The king’s words remind you that family issues are unavoidable and tiresome. Steep wounds had damaged your family, those evident of your mother. Yet here you are with all of your family members in peace. For a moment, you relished their faces, all bearing the same characteristics and traits. House Targaryen is at its strongest when they are together. For centuries, your house stood as the most powerful, sitting on the Iron Throne. Without your disputes, you would have all stood together in King’s Landing.

When King Viserys removed his iron mask, you could feel your heart tremble. He jokes about his appearance - it makes your eyes water. Your father was a kind-hearted and generous man. Out of all the Targaryens, he was the few that cherished your heart. You loved him, you thought as you wiped your tears away.

Queen Alicent drapes her hands around his shivering form. She looks at her husband with tenderness. And for a moment, Rhaeryna was hesitant to speak. Yet she does it anyway and raises her cup. Viserys's words resonated through all of your minds. He wanted his family to stop fighting. Alicent and Rhaeryna sense remorse in their words, knowing their actions impacted many of their past accounts. You listen to your half-sister and your mother toast. Raising their cups to one another felt like a mutual victory.

And with a murmur, you hear Aegon’s obnoxious sniggering. It irritated Jacaerys much more to have him suddenly stand. All eyes abruptly rested on him as he nervously lifted his cup. Aemond suddenly stands as well - you skim at him with suspicion. He eyes down at you with a long empty stare.

“To Prince Aegon and Prince Aemond,” he starts, awkwardly punching Aegon’s shoulder. You feel a smile grow on your face. It felt amusing to witness. “We have not seen each in years. I have fond memories of our shared youth. And as men, I hope we may be friends and allies. To you and your family's good health, uncles.”

Aegon clears his throat. “To you as well.” Alicent’s eyes flicker slightly in relief. And as if sensing your stare, your older brother glances at you. You mischievously quirk your head side-ups to mock him. Nothing to say? His eyes twitch in confusion.

Reluctantly, Helaena slowly rises to raise her cup. She salutes her nieces on their engagement to Jacaerys and Lucerys. “It isn’t so bad… Usually, he just ignores you… except when he’s drunk.” The crowd lightheartedly chuckles. Helaena was innocent in every way. She was endearing and lacked the malice many others had. You drink to her toast, gleaming at her with pride. She never deserved him. You can only guess your mother felt displeasure at her speech. When Queen Alicent declared their wedding, you had no power to veto it. What satisfied you now was the look on your brother's face - ashamed.

Yet they would have to refill one last time.

When Helaena takes a seat back down, you stand up. “And a final toast to those sitting beside the King.” All eyes dart up at you as you raise your cup again. Your arm was unnecessarily sore from raising your glass too many times. “Without you, the realm wouldn’t have been able to prosper. In a time of peace and tranquility, you have captured the hearts of the people of Westeros,” You nudge towards your father, partly. “And to those who stand beside him... Your deeds have not been forgotten. Those who are devoted to the crown will see it prosper. House Targaryen is thankful for all of your sacrifices and hardships. Long may we reign!” Daemon’s faint chuckle likewise makes you scowl slightly. The words you spoke of felt like molten lava. It didn’t feel right for the tongue to speak. Yet when you finished and looked at your mother, everyone cheered. She beams wholeheartedly at your speech, alleviated that you’ve harmonized with your father’s words.

Bitterly, you sit down and consume the last of the wine. It clings harshly down onto your throat. Like poison, it strips you of your senses and numbs you of your surroundings. Luckily, you feel Helaena’s hand wrap around yours with ease. She knows you didn’t mean what you said. The way you spit out your words like venom to everyone. You are not one to please others - it was not in your nature. You despise dinners more than ever.

“You did not have to do that, dear sister.” Helaena hums, plainly lets go of your hand, and starts eating. “You could’ve said something out of hand.”

“Yet I did not.” You respired, refilling your cup. “Do not underestimate my ignorance, sweet sister. If I wanted to humiliate them, I would have.”

“Mind your tongue.” She harshly whispers your name. “You shouldn’t. Not here with mother and father present.” You can tell by Helaena’s jittery hands she's uncomfortable. Is she afraid you will grow brash? Even if she fails to admit it, Helaena is afraid of you. It does not matter if she denies it. You see it in her lilac pupils whenever you’re about to snap. Her eyes quiver - her hands shake as if shaken from ice. Your dear sister did not want you to explode — make a fool of yourself.

You pity her compassion. She shouldn’t care as much for you. Helaena should not worry for you because you are capable of the consequences. Therefore when Jacerys asks for Helaena’s hand for a dance, you’re glad you see her jittery hands fade away.

The musicians near the doors began to play a playful tune for the two young dancers. The atmosphere felt festive with all of the food brought out. Queen Alicent felt relaxed, talking to her father. For the first time in many years, she's able to enjoy a delightful conversation with him. It felt right for her. Her heart flutters when she meets Rhaeryna’s eyes. They constantly beam at each other. They were together again — as a House and family.

Rhaeryna giggles at a comment Daemon says to her in her ear. She hasn’t laughed in years. Amused at his wife’s reaction, Daemon mischievously sips his wine. He's not one to mingle and apply useless conversation. Yet when he hears his lady wife giggle, he feels content. While beside him, Lucerys happily talks to his betrothed cousin. At first, he was nervous to speak but Rhaena was the one to reassure him. Together, they were an adorable pair Rhaeryna always thought.

In the corner, Aemond eyes his younger nephew. Lucerys mindlessly does not look at him but gleams at what Rhaella said. His right eye squints, wanting to pierce his nephew's head on a spike. Aegon, diagonally mumbles something unrecognizable. The wine is getting to him, he thinks. A glimpse, he believes he can see the teenage boy's eyes glance at him nervously.

“Scaring the poor child will do you no good, dear brother.” Your voice tunes him out of his gaze momentarily. He clenches his hand on the table at your sudden comment.

However, his gaze did not falter as he continued to look forward. In his perpetual, his eye senses you continue your pursuit, leaning closer to his chair. Your lips were a breath away from his ear - as your hand shields your mouth.

“Foolishness does not suit you. And please do not summon Vhagar, you'll frighten our guests.” You snicker aimlessly. Aemond’s glare now directs at you. Yet he does nothing and leans back in his chair. When he looks at his mother and Helaena, gracefully dancing with Jacaerys with the biggest smile on her face. He feels the urge to smile — at least they are happy. Yet when his eyes land on you, it feels unjust. You were chit-chatting with Aegon, both drunk to the core from the red wine. The two of you shout with slurs and boisterous laughter.

He ignores the pit in his stomach. “Final tribute.” He says when the Kingsguard escorts the king to his chambers. “To the health of my nephews, Jace… Luke and Joffrey.” Jacaerys released his hold from Helaena’s. “Each of them… handsome, wise…” he hesitated, yet rage fueled his words. “Strong…”

Alicent calls out his name nervously.

“Come, let us drain our cups for these three…” You glance at Rhaeryna’s expression, which displays disappointment. Grinning in delight, you raise your cup while Aegon follows your pursuit. “Strong boys…”

“I dare you to say that again.”

“Why? ‘Twas only a compliment. Do you not think yourselves strong—“ Jacaerys punches Aemond with a forceful blow to the face. Your brother barely flinches as he backs away, laughing. Reluctantly, Aegon reaches for Lucerys and slams him down on the table.

Pure madness was overtaking dinner. You couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of your family fighting. Alicent quickly strides towards Aemond and questions him about his foolish action.

And with a simple curt, he says. “I was merely expressing how proud I was of my family, mother.” He turns back to Jace, “Though it seems as though my nephews aren't as proud as theirs.”

“You—!”

“Stop, stop.” Daemon steps in between the two and urges his son to let it go. His son obliges and goes to his mother hovering over Lucerys.

“Go to your rooms, all of you.” Your sister’s motherly voice reached your ears. The silence between the youngest sons of kings stared down at each other. Aemond is the one to break and leave.

You hastily follow behind him.

King's Landing was not the most pleasant place to be at night. The only moving figures were Aemond’s black coat and your laced dress. The clattering sounds of your footsteps only made Aemond’s pace quicken. It was until you see him reach a dark corridor you stop. The moon was impatient tonight as it illuminates lustrously upon your arrival. Your steps were slow and concise, not wanting to provoke his rage. You called out his name.

There was no answer.

The closer you come to the corridor, the snappier your heart beats. The enjoyment you deemed back at dinner was fading away. The adrenaline you had from your family’s gathering was now pumping through your veins. You called him out again, facing the dark wall of the cold entrance. You could see his figure standing in the shadows. His hair - even though covered by the darkness - is still beautiful. He enjoys the lack of light the night gives him. You can tell by his posture, leaning against the wall he was studying you. “Are you satisfied now, brother?” You are met with silence, encouraging you to continue. “Your foolishness truly exposed our family's differences.”

“And yet you spoke of unity tonight.” He breathes, and the vapors of his words flow into the night sky. His tone was ice cold, wanting to puncture your beating heart. He snaps in disgust - you guess by the change of his posture. “You said that House Targaryen united us all.”

“Yet I rose my cup to your tribute.” Your slow strides unnerved him. Your shoes - that can clank roughly against the cold cobblestone - made your presence stern. You were like a water serpent emerging from the depths of the ocean. Your expression - cold makes his heart beat faster. “You know I despise lying, Aemond.”

“Must you always fiddle with your lies?” He sneers, nudging his face fully at you. Your silence alerted him to your uncertainty and confusion. “Why did you toast to them?”

“Is it not respectable of me to congratulate our sister and uncle?” With a raised eyebrow, you felt a strong sense of rage. “Despite my distaste for Rhaeryna and her family, it does not demean my respect for them.”

“Respect is the last thing they deserve.” He releases himself out of the darkness and towers over you. His annoyance was like ticking a time bomb.

You can see his eyes flicker toward your lips. “It wouldn’t be fair.” Eyes colored in the darkest purple trail up to meet one another. You two stare at each other, too tense to move. “To you included.” Aemond freezes for a moment. It was as if he didn’t catch what you said. “How hypocritical of you to deem them without respect while you do the same.” You can feel a devilish grin come to your lips. “With a bastard.”

And like a scared animal, your brother jumps back. He doesn’t look frightened, mostly troubled — in his mind. Yet before you say another word, he brushes past you and dashes back into the darkness.

2K notes · View notes

cocogrrrl · 10 months

Text

daffodil

you had grown up liking kyle from a comfortable distance, never thinking about making possible wounds. you, however, only just figured that out right now. unfortunately, you're overcome with the hanahaki disease likely because of it

kyle x stan's twin + gn!reader (hanahaki disease au) cw: major character death (kind of?), not necessarily an ed but mentions of struggles with eating, hospitalization, implied floater friend behavior if it makes anyone uncomfortable wc: 5121

an: this is part of an sp au where different versions of the reader has hanahaki and is in love with the main three! read the other two parts here!

Hanahaki is a disease something that affects many daily. From a small seed in your lungs, you’ll experience petals and flowers coming out from your mouth. It could take days, weeks, months, or even years to develop. Many hypothesize that it happens because of a love not returned, a love waiting on a bench.

Fortunately, it isn’t something that everyone will experience in their lifetime, although it is common. For those who catch the illness, you only have a few choices to pick from.

First, the sickness doesn’t last because the affection is returned. Many of those who survive this still need to receive medical attention for the healing process, depending on how severe the sickness had become. Many of these people who experience this are bound to live a happy life, though.

Second, you undergo a safe medical procedure that, while cures you, makes you devoid of any sense of love anymore. These operations usually do not pose many health risks, and the survival rate is high.

Lastly, you could just bear the pain, although you will suffocate to death.

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Growing up in the Marsh household was no easy task. Existing there was tiring because of the constant chaos that was your father, sometimes even mother to an extent. You grew up spending time in other people’s houses because of this, finding more comfort in others’ families than that in your own.

Luckily, you did still have a member of your family you knew you could always trust. That person was your twin brother, Stan Marsh. You two had always been connected to the hip. Sure, you two always bickered and picked on each other, but you were siblings. It was a regular occurrence.

You found yourself hopping from friend group to friend group growing up, unlike Stan, who had always stayed strong with just one—although you did catch him hanging out with the goth kids a few times. It felt a little bit lonely, being known by nearly everyone but not really being that liked to have a steady friendship with someone. You were on good terms with everyone, but at what cost?

That’s what makes you grateful to be so close to Stan, though. He often invited you to hang out with his friends whenever he noticed you were alone. He knew you preferred to be surrounded by people than be alone, so even if his friends could be pieces of shit sometimes, he welcomed you to his group.

It didn’t happen all the time, but whenever it did, you found yourself often wanting to be close to Kyle. You didn’t know why you were so drawn to him. I mean, he seemed like a pretty respectful guy, being the voice of reason in his respective group, but that wasn’t the sole basis of your feelings.

Maybe it’s because he was thoughtful and kind? You remember that there was this one time he, Stan, and you were out playing. Stan and Kyle were on their bikes, and you were on a skateboard. For shits and giggles, you thought it’d be fun to hang on to the back of Kyle’s bike, so you held on to the pillion of his bike. You lost balance, though, falling off your board and scraping your knee really bad.

While Stan was telling you off for being irresponsible and reckless, being the protective brother he is, Kyle laughed it off and pulled out his handkerchief to wrap it around your wound. You viscerally remember Stan proceeding to joke about how Kyle blew his nose into that handkerchief earlier.

To add onto his thoughtfulness, for the following few days after the incident, whenever Kyle was at your place—which was most of the time—he’d always check up on how your wound was. Perhaps he felt bad, freely letting you hang onto the back of his bike like that. It was the consequence of your own stupidity, though.

That was back in middle school, though. You had only ever realized your feelings for Kyle during your junior year of high school.

As cute as it sounded, it really wasn’t. Recently, after your shocking revelation, you began to take notice of flowers bubbling up in your chest. Quite literally. From time to time, you’ll find a few petals, sometimes even a flower, being coughed out of your mouth. How unlucky you were to be the selected few to experience this.

You should’ve expected it, though. Ever since you were a kid, you would start coughing up small petals whenever you were a kid. Although those instances were rare, that didn’t mean they didn’t happen.

You were cooped up in your own room, facing your own mortality. You knew Kyle probably didn’t like you. No way. He’s had a few girlfriends over the years, you being none of them, obviously. Wouldn’t he have already asked you out if he liked you? Besides, you often spotted him at school seemingly interested in other girls.

So now, there were only two solutions to your problem, it was either to face death itself or to get surgery. On the one hand, you could embrace a life of love and immaturity but ultimately meet your demise earlier than it should. On the other hand, you could live longer and have a shot of being successful but sacrificing all the wonderful colors of your life. Luckily, you weren’t knee-deep in the stages of your condition yet, giving you plenty of time to think.

Your train of thought was put to a halt as you heard a knock on the door. “YN, sweetie, dinner’s ready.” Your mom said, opening the door just enough for her to send her message clearly.

“Alright, Mom. I’ll just fix my things.” You said in reply. As she sweetly nodded and closed the door, you checked the petals that littered your bed—white, daffodil petals and flowers. You cleaned your mess up, holding in a deep breath as you made your way downstairs.

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Luckily, dinner was pretty uneventful. It was pretty uncomfortable with your food, though. You could intensely feel the flowers rustling in your chest as your food passed through your throat. How fun.

Once more, you heard a knocking on your door.

“Come in,” you called. The door opened wide, your brother leaning on the door frame.

“Hey, uh,” he paused, retracing his words and thinking of what to say. “Me and the guys are gonna hang out tomorrow. If you aren’t busy and want to come along, no one’s gonna stop you.”

Whenever Stan asked you to hang out with him, it made you smile. It was a thoughtful action for him to invite you to come with his friends since he knew you desperately needed some sense of a stable friendship in your life. You still struggled with the same things you’ve always had trouble with as a child, and he was always there to help you out whenever you needed it.

With a smile, you nodded. “Sure, I’ll come. Where will you guys be?”

“Kyle’s place around noon. You can come with me if you wake up early enough.” He said, critiquing your fabulous sleep schedule before he closed the door and left you on your own.

You were definitely going tomorrow.

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As you and Stan stood in front of the door, he rang the doorbell. Sheila opened the door and happily welcomed you two. You found your spot in the room by the left side of the couch, Stan sitting beside you and Kyle sitting on the very right. Soon enough, Cartman and Kenny had come over as well.

Whenever you spent time with Stan and his friends, you kind of just basked in the atmosphere, even if it is often just a bunch of sweaty guys screaming over some video game.

It’s not a bad thing, though—you actually find it comfortable to be standing by the sidelines. You saw the energy between the guys, and you were just happy to experience sharing a moment with them, even if it felt like you were in another room listening to their conversation.

“Hey, I’m gonna go get some water. Do you guys need anything?” You asked, getting up and looking at them. Cartman ordered you to get a bag of Cheesy Poofs and a glass of Coca-Cola, while Stan, Kenny, and Kyle just asked for water.

You headed into the kitchen, grabbing five glass cups. You filled four of them with water. Now, just Cartman’s Cheesy Poofs and Coke.

Cartman asking for such was nothing new that's why you knew he needed a straw to go with his coke. You check the refrigerator for any Coke. In your favor, there was. You poured some of the soft drink into the glass, filling it just right. Seeing how there were some straws in a tall container, you got one and placed it in the drink.

Lastly was the bag of Cheesy Poofs. You look inside the cupboards, hoping there was some. Sheila was strict with what children ate, so there was a chance that there wasn’t any. You were looking around the kitchen, but no Cheesy Poofs to be found. You were about to take the drinks back when you were interrupted.

“Here’s his Cheesy Poofs.” A voice said behind you. It was Kyle’s. “Mom recently found out that they may not be kosher after all, so she completely banned Ike and me from eating them.”

“So why do you still have some lying around then?” You raised a brow, confused.

“I keep an extra just for Cartman.”

“I thought you hated him.”

“I do, for sure, but I have to be a good host to my guests as well.”

You chuckled. He seemed to have sacrificed his money and good hiding spots just to let Cartman have it his way. ‘He’s a really thoughtful guy,’ you thought.

“What are you doing here, though? I thought you were trying to be a good host—playing with them and all.” You said a little mindlessly, not really thinking before you spoke first.

“I could be an even better host by helping you out and giving Cartman his Cheesy Poofs that he might’ve never gotten.”

“Oh, well, thank you. What a nice host you are.” You smiled.

He shared a grin back, and you shared a moment of silence. For a second, you wanted to lean in. That was until you were attacked with a violent coughing fit. Kyle quickly rushed to your side as you were hunched over, patting your back.

“Are you okay?” He said worriedly.

“Yeah, don’t sweat it.” You said, catching the petals that fell out of your mouth as you stuffed them in your pocket.

“Is everything alright?” You heard Stan call out from the other room.

“Yeah, don’t worry!” You yelled back, straightening your back to look back at Kyle. His eyes were on you, flickering to your lips. However, as his eyes landed there, he suddenly looked more concerned than he was just a moment ago.

“You have some blood on your lips. Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked, pointing to where the blood was.

“Oh, shit. Yeah, I think I should get it checked soon.” You were lying. You knew what was the problem. You felt guilty because, even if he wasn’t doing anything, he was contributing to probable demise. “Just… don’t tell Stan.”

You were worried. If Stan found out you had Hanahaki, he would find out that you had a huge crush on his best friend. There was a chance that he would push you to confess to him, and it would be absolutely crushing to hear him tell you that he didn’t like you back.

“Why not?”

“Whenever he tries to protect me, he always just ends up getting on my nerves.” You felt guilty for lying again. Although what you said was true, that was definitely not the reason why you didn’t want him to find out. “I know he means well, but it’s exhausting sometimes.”

“Oh, well,” you pleaded in your head for him not to tell. “Your secret’s safe with me. Just make sure to get checked soon, okay?” He said worriedly, putting a hand on your shoulder.

“Alright.” You nodded.

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

Right now, you were in history. It wasn’t something you were necessarily good at, but it wasn’t something you struggled most with either. You were given free time to finish remaining projects, do homework for other subjects, and study for upcoming tests currently.

For now, you were catching up on a project worth 45% of your grade. As you typed on your laptop to plan out the structure of your project, you felt someone slide right beside you. You take a look to see who it was—Kyle.

“Hey, YN.” He greeted.

“Hello, Kyle.” You returned, your tone a little confused.

“About the thing the other day,” he said. Right now, it was two days after the coughing fit of your life, so you were sure that Kyle was going to ask you about it. “Have you gotten it checked yet?”

Honestly, no. You didn’t care enough to have it checked. It’s not like there was an antibiotic to have it go away. “Ah, yeah. The doctor said it was a chest infection.”

“Why are you here then? Shouldn’t you be at home? What if the infection worsens?”

“Oh, my doctor said it wasn’t that serious, so he just prescribed me some antibiotics.”

“Alright,” he smiled at you. “You really scared me, YN. You seemed so pale that I thought you were about to pass out.” He sighed, distraught.

“I’m so sorry.” The guilt chipped through the cracks of your brain. You felt bad for making him worry so much.

“It’s not your fault. I just get worried easily whenever someone’s sick.”

“Ahh, thank you,” you said, staring everywhere else than at Kyle. You couldn’t look at his face. Not at least when you’re lying to him like this.

“Hey,” his voice caused your head to snap back at him. “Uh, I know it’s usually Stan’s place to ask you this, but he and I are gonna head to the arcade later afternoon. Do you wanna come?”

“Cartman and Kenny aren’t coming?”

“Kenny is currently chaperoning his little sister somewhere,” he explained. “Cartman’s… doing Cartman stuff.” You two shared a laugh amongst yourselves, knowing the type of insane things your schoolmate can get himself into—even up to now.

“So what do you say? You wanna come?” He asked. “You know, for old times’ sake, I guess.”

Your mind clicked back to your middle school days when it was often just the three of you. You became closest to him during those days, but high school slowly drew you apart. You were sure why either.

“Let’s see—I’ll think about it.” You returned a polite grin.

“Alright.” He nodded. “See you later, or not.” He got up and made his way across the classroom.

Your eyes were glued to him as he chatted with Bebe. She immediately put his arms around him as she leaned into a kiss. Apparently, he seemed to be embarrassed by PDA, seeing how he gently pushed her back—looking around his surroundings to see if anyone saw them.

Huh. I guess you really didn’t have a chance with him. Should you go to the arcade? You would love to, but perhaps it’s best not to come if you feel like you were going to just sulk all day.

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Days turned into two weeks, and it seemed like you weren’t getting better anytime soon.

Eating became the most rigorous activity ever. Breathing was difficult because of the flowers clogging up your chest. You wore masks to lessen the likeliness of the petals falling out of your mouth. The lie about your chest infection had spread all around town. Everyone believed you, even your parents too.

No one knew a single thing about this—until today.

“YN, can I talk to you?” Stan asked, peering through your door.

You had your mask on still, saying you didn’t want to infect anyone as much as possible. You even ate your food in the comfort of your own room. You only ever went outside your room when you needed to use the restroom, go to school, or buy something you needed.

“Sure,” you replied nonchalantly, slipping on your mask and shoveling the flowers into a trash can.

Your twin brother slowly closed the door before sitting beside you on your bed, a look more worried than you’ve ever seen. “Dude, I’m just gonna get straight to the point—what the fuck is going on with you?” He was extremely upset. You could hear it in his voice.

At this point, you had already made your mind up. You knew what route you wanted to take, and you were going to tell Stan today. Fortunately enough, he was the first one to approach you.

“I,” you paused, thinking of any other way of breaking the news. Taking a deep breath, you continued, “I think I may have Hanahaki Disease.”

“Huh? That shit’s real?” He asked. He didn’t seem like he was judging you. He seemed more so confused.

“Yeah,” you said, pulling your mask down. Your speech was distorted because of the amount of flowers in your mouth. You could hardly move your mouth. You pulled some petals out of your mouth to make yourself more intelligible, tossing them to the side.

All Stan could do was watch in shock. “For how long now?”

“I guess ever since I was a little kid, but—”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?! Or even better, why didn’t you tell Mom?”

“You know how stupid the adults are here! Besides, it wasn’t that serious until recently.”

“YN, coughing up flowers is not not fucking serious. Are you joking yourse—”

“Stan,” you called his name as calmly as you could, although you were starting to get pissed off. “Let me explain… Please.”

He sat there, rolling his arms as he was ready to listen.

“I only got worse when,” you hesitated, saying his name. “When I realized I liked Kyle, which was about a few weeks ago.”

“Wait, wait, wait. You like Kyle? Like, Kyle Broflovski? My best friend Kyle? You like like him?”

“Ever since we were kids, I guess.” You were embarrassed. “When we were younger, I started coughing up petals already. I never thought it was a big deal because a bunch of weird shit happens here anyway. I thought it would just pass.

“That was when, as I said, I realized I liked Kyle. Ever since then, I’ve just gotten worse and worse.”

There was a long pause between you two. You could feel his eyes tearing you apart. You knew he was upset and angry with you. Who wouldn’t feel the same way? A somber “What will you do now?” was all he said, though.

“I want to get surgery.”

One beat.

“Haven’t you even thought of confessing?”

“Stan, you and I just know for a fact that Kyle doesn’t like me.”

“Don’t put yourself down like that-”

“Has he ever mentioned me whenever you two are together?” Stan shook his head. “You’ve noticed him and Bebe recently as well, right?” He seemed a little confused.

“Your logic is so stupid.”

“Wouldn’t you do the exam the same thing if you were in my position?”

“No. if I were you, I would ask Kyle if he liked me first.”

“I just think I should go with the surgery.” You sighed. “I know I’ll become a completely different person, but I can at least still be able to continue with life, you know? Be able to do something worthwhile in my life.”

“You know what happens when you get surgery, though, right?”

“I’ll become devoid of any emotion whatsoever.” You rolled your eyes, exasperated. ”Yes, Stan, you think I haven’t thought this through?”

“You’re my twin! I don’t want you to become a hollow piece of shit!”

“Would you rather have a dead man of a sibling or someone you can still talk to?”

“I’d be talking to a literal robot, YN. Both of the choices fucking suck. I’ll still mourn you either way.”

“Those are the only decisions I have. Who are you to decide for me anyway? This is my life, Stan. I’ve already made my decision.”

“Well then, I hate your decision,” Stan pouted as he pulled you into a tight hug.

You felt warm tears fall on your shoulder. You didn’t know what came over you, but you started to cry with him as well. In the back of your mind, you knew that this would be the last few special moments you’ll have with him.

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

It took your parents some convincing, but now you were seated in a worn-out, faded hospital room. You quickly grew weak in the span of a week, unfortunately. You found it difficult to hold your body weight up. Eating became so difficult and uncomfortable that you simply just survived on heavy liquids.

Many people were bidding you their goodbyes, all of them of which you cried. It was like you were about truly die.

Even if you’ll still hold the memories of your past, everyone will just see you as a living reminder of what could’ve been. You will become nothing more than a living statue, something that symbolized something.

Despite all this, there was one goodbye, though, that was more painful than most.

Kyle entered the room, holding a bouquet of flowers for you. “Hey, YN. I hope you like these.” He said, handing you the flowers as he took a seat.

The second he stepped inside your room, your heart broke. He seemed exhausted. You didn’t bring it up, though. It’s no good to make people more upset than they already are.

“They’re beautiful, Kyle. Thank you very much.” You said, cuddling the bouquet instead of setting it aside with all the other flowers you had gotten—funnily enough.

There was a haunting silence that fell over you two. He was the one person you regretted lying to most since you specifically told him that you’d go to the doctor and try to get better. You knew it was a lie you’d never be able to get yourself out of, so why did you say it anyway?

“I hate to ask, but,” he said remorsefully. “The thing at my house, where we were joking about me being a good host and all, then you got into a coughing fit—did you already know back then?”

A few beats passed before you spoke. “Yeah.” Guilt nipped at your brain. “I’m so sorry, Kyle. I thought everything would’ve been resolved already by then.”

“Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault as to why that person didn’t like you back or anything.” He sighed, giving you a hopeful little smile. How ironic.

You returned the gesture for what would most likely be the last time. “Hey, Kyle?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m just curious, and I know is it’s kinda out of nowhere, but are you and Bebe together?” You wanted to ask just to solidify your assumptions. You were at your end anyway—why not be blunt for once?

“Huh? No.” He seemed confused. “Where’d you get that?” He lightheartedly chuckled. It in no way eased your entire situation, but it did make you a little happier. How selfish of you.

“Oh, I thought I saw Bebe kiss you once.”

His face turned red as he facepalmed himself. “The one a few weeks ago? Yeah, no. She liked me. I’m not into her at all, so I pushed her back, rejecting her.”

Now this time you felt embarrassed, covering your face in your hands. “Sorry…” You quietly muttered.

“It’s fine.” He patted your head.

Silence fell between you two, but you decided to break it. “Thanks, Kyle. I’ll miss you a lot. Even if we never became super close or anything, I’d still consider you to be one of my best friends.”

You suddenly felt a force push behind you. Next thing you know, your face was right against his chest. You could feel your hair get wet, feeling teardrops like rain fall upon you. You were holding tears before this, and feeling him sob on top of you just broke you as well.

You two stood there, crying until your heads burst from pain. You had many discoveries as people bid you their goodbyes—this was no different as well.

You were at your end, that’s for sure. The moment you step out of that surgery room, it will be over for you. The surgery was a dream-crushing procedure, literally. You still had morals in the end, but you wouldn’t really have a personal driving force within you.

You hated that. You wouldn’t experience heartbreak and anxiety anymore, sure, but you’ll never experience happiness and love as well.

You’ll miss how your brother invited you to hang out with his friend. You’ll miss how your mom took care of you whenever you caught a bad cold. You’ll miss sneaking out at night to do a bunch of things you’ll regret the morning after. You’ll miss squealing over a mundane text that Kyle sent. You’ll miss it all.

You didn’t want to kill the person you are right now to escape your pain. You would keep the person you are currently if you could. However, that wasn’t a choice. Will it be worth it? Who’s to say? At least you still have a chance to pay your parents the money you owe them. At least it was the more logical thing to do as well, you figured.

One of you pulled back—you weren’t sure who it was since your head was all dizzy. You couldn’t look at him in the face and believed he thought the same thing as well since you saw in the peripherals that he couldn’t look down at you.

“Before you go,” you muttered, reaching behind you and pulling out a letter, handing it to him. “This is yours.”

The letter was all of the things you wish you could’ve told him. You couldn’t leave him at such an abrupt ending. You cared about him too much for that. So you told him everything you needed to in this letter. You even included your biggest mistake in the letter: liking him.

“Oh.” he was taken aback as he read the back of the envelope. It read, ‘Open me after surgery, thanks!’ He smiled at the thought of receiving a letter, hoping it would lighten the mood. “Thank you, YN.”

Moments later, he wiped his eyes and made his way to the door. “I’ll see you soon, alright?” You nodded, not being able to trust your own voice much more.

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

“Kyle. Sharon just called me,” Sheila said to Kyle, opening his door. “She said that YN’s doing better now. She told me that they should be out of the hospital in a few days from now. You should visit them.”

“I will, Mom. Thanks.” He smiled. Sheila then left, closing the door right after.

YN’s note sat by his desk. He hadn’t checked it yet. He wasn’t exactly sure why. Seeing how they had gotten out of surgery, though, he should probably check it right now. He felt a sense of dread the closer he inched to his desk, to YN’s letter. He picked it up, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was even holding.

The envelope was decorated neatly. There were cute stickers plastered pretty much everywhere, except for the dead center, where the words ‘Open me after surgery, thanks!’ were written.

Hi, Kyle.

Hopefully, you’re reading this after my surgery. If not, come back later! It’s not fun to watch a movie knowing the big twist. Although, that does sound fucked up in this context, lol.

Now, you should be back right now. After my surgery, yeah? I don’t know where I should start.

Actually, maybe I do. To start off, you’re the only one I gave a letter to. Now don’t feel bad—I did tell everyone what I wanted to tell them before I got my surgery. It’s just you who didn’t get their full message. Sorry.

I think meeting you was my greatest mistake. If I didn’t take up Stan’s many invitations to hang out with you guys, I wouldn’t be in this predicament. Of course, he was just being a good person, but I guess you could also blame him for all this mess as well. Kidding.

I really like you, though, Kyle. I know that you don’t like me back. There’s no need to say it. Even if you are reading this post-surgery, there’s no way to tell me that. It’s such a shame, though. I have to throw all my hopes and dreams like this just because I find you cute, witty, and charming.

It’s not your fault, though. I’m sure you know that. You’re a pretty smart and sensible guy. If you blame yourself for this, I think I’m gonna fall out of love with you.

I know I’ve been joking around in this letter, and while everything I have said is true for the most part, I’ll be genuine for a second.

It’s quite pathetic this disease is. Imagine dying because this person you like doesn’t like you back. It’s really fucking stupid. I wish I never liked you just so I could be with you right now. That seems a tad bit too paradoxical to be true, no?

I have and never will love anyone like I loved you. I thought it was a small crush. It was something more, after all. This is probably what I’m meant to be.

Sometimes, I wonder if you became embarrassed of me, seeing how you started to grow more distant from me when became a little older. I don’t know. I hope I’m just reading between the lines a bit too much.

It feels so embarrassing to admit this all to you. I hope you won’t treat me differently after I get the surgery.

I hope that there is another universe that is straight out of the dreams I made of you and me. Where we’d live happily together and cook pies or something. I’m sure, that if we were living together, you would make even the most mundane and tedious things worthwhile.

I’m gonna bury the person I am right now into a daydream with you that’ll last forever.

Yours in every way possible,

He stood in the dark of his room. Mind blank. He didn’t know how to react.

There was only thought in his mind, though: he could’ve saved you if he simply told you how he felt as well.

#south park fanfiction #south park x reader #kyle broflovski x reader #kyle broflovski x you #kyle x reader #kyle broflovski x y/n #cocogrrrl's writing #cocogrrrl's hanahaki series

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phantom-z0ne · 1 month

Text

Kingdom Come - Part 2

Part 1

WC: 3545

CW: Minor Character Deaths, Corpses, Disfigured bodies, Cults, Blood

Damian was missing and Dick was going crazy.

Damian hasn't responded to any inquiries of his location since he missed his scheduled check in time. It had already been two hours past that and they still didn't have any clue where he was. Last they knew, he was heading towards Chinatown. Damian knew a couple of the locals and regularly visited some animals, mostly cats and dogs but occasionally a bird or two.

They would have been able to track him with his comm, but Damian had modified it so that it was untrackable unless it was being used. Unfortunately, they hadn't learned of it before today. If they were to track him through his comm, they would only have a short time to triangulate his position. Damian stated that he wanted his privacy, likely so he could disobey orders without them realizing. They had allowed it because they trusted his judgment, not to mention they all had their rebellious phase, but now it was coming back to bite them in the ass.

It was unfortunate they didn’t have Barbara helping, she was off on her own mission with the Birds of Prey and not in Gotham. Finding Damian would have been way easier with her help, she was an expert in navigating the surveillance systems around Gotham.

Dick could tell he wasn't the only one concerned about their youngest, the others were worried in their own ways. Jason fidgeted with his gun, which Bruce was just barely tolerating, as he paced the rooftop while Tim ran the diagnostics multiple times, his fingers flying on his wrist hologram.

Cass and Bruce’s unease was less noticeable, the only reason he caught it was that he knew them for such a long time. Bruce double checked his trackers and flew across the roofs in search of Damian. Cass was tense and alternated standing near each of them, subtly clenching her hands into fists as she did.

“Robin, come in.” Bruce demanded, Dick felt the desperation in his voice although it was hidden well. He didn't want to lose another son while Dick didn't want to lose another brother.

There wasn’t a reply, only the sound of static filled their ears.

Dick sighed, running his hands through his hair. They needed to find Damian quickly. The longer they didn't locate him, the longer his captures had to smuggle him out of the city. If Damian was taken out of the city, it would be infinitely harder to find him.

He couldn’t let that happen, especially to Damian. He’s already had a tough life, what with how he grew up. His integration into the family was difficult on everyone, B was gone and Tim had chosen to pursue a theory he had thought of at the time insane. Jason wasn’t on talking terms with them at that time and Cass had her own responsibilities across the world. Steph was also busy with juggling her hero and civilian lives, though her attitude towards Damian did turn around in the end.

The comm crackled, faint sounds coming through. Dick jolted, jarred out of his thoughts from the abrupt opening of the comm. Both Cass and Tim’s hands went to their comms as Jason stilled. The shuffling of cloth was most prominent, though he could hear a quiet voice.

“Robin, report. What is your location?” Bruce asked, hope underlying his words.

There was the sound of shuffling before a young, unfamiliar voice sounded, “Is this comm trackable?”

That was not Damian. Did he kidnap Damian and was going to ask for a ransom or gloat? Another also kidnapped alongside Damian? Or perhaps a concerned civilian who had nothing to do with Damian’s disappearance?

“Who are you?” Bruce demanded, treating the unknown as a hostile. It was understandable, this was a stranger who possibly abducted his son.

“You can call me Polka. I'm not sure of the location but Robin is unconscious. We are in a warehouse.” The voice responded. ‘You can call me Polka?’ Was he implying that Polka wasn’t his name or the only one he goes by? Dick’s siblings crowded closer to Bruce as if they couldn’t hear out of their own comms.

The good news was that they now knew where to search. Most warehouses were either near the docks or the Warehouse District. That meant they had two areas to search if Tim didn't triangulate where Damian’s comm was during the short conversation. He could see Tim hunched over, one hand typing swiftly in his wrist hologram.

“Stay where you are, I’ll be there shortly.” Bruce said curtly, his cape snapping as he turned to Tim and asked if he captured the location of the comm. Tim gave him a thumbs up and sent the coordinates.

They piled into their own vehicles and sped their way across the city, heading towards the warehouse Damian was held in.

They surrounded the warehouse once they arrived, Bruce entering first before they snuck in from different entrance points. Dick shivered slightly as he situated himself behind the boy who Damian was laid out on. His siblings spread out and surrounded the boy from all sides.

The warehouse was a mess, blood pooling from the disfigured bodies laying every which way. Dick could faintly spot a chalk circle underneath a pool of blood. Another cult, he surmised grimly. There have been too many cults running around lately for his liking, though it looked like this one had fallen victim to their own summoning.

There wasn't much he could tell about the boy from behind, his baggy clothes hiding his frame. His hair was what stood out the most, cropped silver hair. It seemed to almost glow in the dark warehouse. Dick’s attention went back to Bruce who stepped out from the shadows and addressed the boy after taking Damian back into his custody, though he kept an eye out on the boy.

“None, I just happened to find him. Who are you?” The boy asked, standing. That was interesting. Everyone from Gotham knew who Batman was, and even if you weren't, Batman was still a famous figure.

Bruce answered in his signature low voice, obviously gearing up to interrogate the boy. That was his cue to step in. They’ve done this routine before, good cop and bad cop. It was surprisingly successful.

“Happened to find him?” Dick questioned, rolling down from the support beam he was perched on and revealed himself. The boy turned to him, his hair fanning across his face. A black stripe cut into his silvery hair. It was the inverse of Jason’s hair, Dick thought absently.

The boy’s face was blank, unsurprised to see another vigilante popping up behind him. Dick’s eyes were drawn to the scar on his neck. It spanned most of the neck and would be most definitely fatal if it was deep enough. The boy was 15, 16 years max. Where would he have gotten a scar like that? Not to mention, he was too calm in this situation. Blood and viscera surrounded him and all he seemed was bored.

Slight motion to the right made Dick’s eyes snap to the plush on the boy’s shoulder, almost certain that it moved on its own. “How exactly did you find him? We can't be sure you weren’t the one who abducted him, after all.”

The boy took his time to answer, his face slightly scrunched in thought. Faint sound of movement emerged from his comm but he showed no signs of hearing it.

He pointed to the body of the cultest then to the mound that Dick hadn’t paid much attention to as he answered, “They kidnapped Robin, me, and a couple other kids. They killed the others. Who are you?

Dick heard a sharp inhale, likely in reaction to the dead children. It looked like they were thrown there uncaringly, Dick thought angrily. They were piled on top of each other, some of their limbs bent unnaturally. Most of the injuries were from a slit neck, but there were signs of other injuries. These poor kids were likely tortured first then slaughtered.

He could see Bruce soften after the boy answered, likely thinking the same things as Dick.

Dick sighed silently, sheathing his escrima sticks as he walked to stand closer to Bruce and Damian. “I’m called Nightwing. Can you tell us why you and Robin are unharmed?”

“They already summoned the God of the Dead, or Corpse God, by then. It wasn't needed.” Jason cursed. They were too late, for both the kids and the summoning. Not to mention the ominous name of the being that was summoned. Just what were these cultists planning for summoning such a being? Probably to ‘rid the world of impurities’ like every other cult he came across.

Bruce asked for confirmation of the being, pulling out his ‘victim voice’. It was significantly softer than what he usually spoke as Batman. The boy nodded, affirming their suspicions on the being. Though, where was it? Usually, summoned being raged and caused destruction in their wake, especially ones with such ominous names. There was no sign of this one.

Dick pasted on a smile and bent closer to the boy, “Did you see where the God of the Dead went?”

The boy nodded as he bit his lips, visibly nervous. It was a bit strange to see such an expression on the child when he was blase for most of the conversation. He leaned forward as the boy cupped his hand over his mouth and whispered, “He’s still here.”

Dick felt a shiver race down his spine, one of his siblings sucked in a breath. That was… not good. Was this a trap? Had the God of the Dead been lying in wait and observing them since they had arrived?

The atmosphere was thick enough to cut with a knife. Everyone was tense and ready for battle. Of course, that was when Damian began to stir, calling out to Bruce once he opened his eyes. Bruce adjusted his hold on Damian, beginning to answer Damian before he was cut off by the boy.

“Can I go now? I was with my friends before this. They’re probably worried.” Dick most certainly couldn't let a key witness, and a most definitely traumatized child, wander off without supervision.

“Sorry, you’re coming with us.” Dick said apologetically.

The boy did not like that. He crossed his arms and gave them an annoyed look. “Why?”

Jason, Tim, and Cass took this as the perfect time to reveal themselves. They hopped down from their respective posts and gathered near Bruce. Tim, however, aimed for the cultists as he responded, “We need more information and to verify your story. And for your protection.”

The boy's eyes lingered over Cass and Jason before focusing on the latter, his expression curious. Jason obviously noticed but didn't pay it any mind, more interested in fussing over Damian who wasn’t having it, swatting Jason’s hovering hands away.

“Won't that be kidnapping? Since I don't want to go to a secondary location with strangers? Kidnapping is illegal, you know.”

Jason answered as he finally relented from teasing Damian, “Well, it's a good thing the law is more like suggestions to us.” This did nothing to stop the boy from looking apprehensive. Good job, Jason, Dick thought tiredly.

Tim interrupted the boy when he stated that the cultists were, in fact, not dead. It blindsided Dick. Many of the cultists were in pieces as others had bled enough to be six feet under.

Damian looked mildly curious as Bruce and Tim questioned the survival of the cultists, likely thinking over the logistics of how they still lived. Eventually, Bruce asked Tim to alert the hospital and GCPD. They wouldn't be arriving in a long while, it was still Gotham after all.

Dick walked over to them as they discussed the boy and the cultist, hearing the tail end of Tim’s suspicions.

“—clearly up with him. Despite the situation he’s in, he is unusually calm.”

That was true, not many kids were so nonchalant about almost being ritually sacrificed. Or seeing mangled bodies and pools of blood laying around.

Dick glanced at the boy—he really should be calling him Polka by now, since it was the only name he was given—seeing him grow red-faced as he spoke with Jason.

The almost silent crackle of a radio signaled their time was up, they needed to leave before the police arrived.

Herding Polka out of the building and out of sight was easy, all they needed to do was avoid cameras and stick to the shadowed side of the alley. Those who saw the group were quick to run away.

Losing Polka, however, was not something Dick expected to happen. They all were hyper aware of their surroundings, and in turn, the kid. How he managed to disappear under the scrutiny of six highly trained vigilantes, Dick didn't know.

They had to admit defeat after searching the area and beyond for an hour and a half, Damian being sent back for an examination despite his objections early into their search, and trudge back to the cave unsuccessful.

Dick watched Jason walk into the infirmary—jokingly nicknamed the “batfirmary” by Steph— and remove his helmet from his seat next to Damian’s cot. Steph walked in after him, plopping down on the end of the mattress next to Jason and ignored Damian’s hissed demands for them to get off.

Cass slunk in a moment later, Tim behind her. He was still typing on his wrist computer as he sat on the opposite side of Damian. Cass leaned on the arm of his chair, gazing curiously at the screen.

Off to the right, through a sliver of the thick cloth that blocked the med bay, sat Bruce. The light from the Batcomputer illuminated his bent figure.

Dick pursed his lips, not liking the expression that crossed his father’s face. Whenever there were children involved, Bruce always got into a mood. It wasn’t that the rest of them didn’t, but Bruce’s mood was always the worst. He wouldn't accept any food or comfort until he solved the case and got justice for the innocent children.

As his child and fellow vigilante, Dick couldn't let Bruce neglect himself like that, least of all when it wasn’t his fault the children died. He stood, walking over to Bruce and laid a hand on his shoulder. He gently squeezed, offering all the comfort that was allowed. Bruce gave him a weary smile.

“You should join us.” Dick said, retracting his hand to cross his arms. “It does you no good just sitting here. Damian needs you right now.”

“I know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I just… I need to give those children justice.”

“Bruce, they aren’t going anywhere. You need to focus on the child in front of you.” Dick winced at how that came out. “I mean, Damian should be your priority right now. He’s recovering from being kidnapped!”

“You're right.” Bruce sighed, straightening his back slightly. “They aren’t going anywhere.”

Dick walked back to his seat, pleased with the sound of Bruce’s footsteps behind him. He watched as Damian’s face brightened when he spotted his father, and the subsequent haughty look he made to cover it up.

“How are you doing, Damian?” Bruce asked, sitting on the cot.

“I am fine, Father. It was just a scratch.” Damian answered, lifting his chin then frowning. “I didn't need to be hauled to the infirmary. I could have helped track down the boy.”

“We had to check if the cultist had done anything else to you. Would you rather not know if they had? And how did they manage to even snatch you anyways?” Tim intervened, crossing his legs as he looked up from his wrist computer.

“They used defenseless animals against me.” Dick almost cooed at Damian’s pout. He was always glad to see Damian act his age.

“What kinds of animals?” Steph leaned forward, her eyes gleaming.

“… Kittens.” Damian admitted quietly.

“They lured you in with kittens?!” Jason said hysterically. Muffled snorts came from all around, Dick himself wasn't exempt from laughing either. Everyone but Jason quickly pasted on an innocent face when Damian furiously glared at them, he didn't bother covering up his laughter. Even Bruce seemed amused, his eyes darting between them with a fond look on his face.

“Do you remember what happened?” Cass signed. Dick could tell she was still worried about Damian, the sides of her eyes were creased and her lips held together tightly.

“I passed out after I was hit over the head.” Damian began, the bedding clenched in his fists. “I remember waking up a couple of times but it wasn't for long. The last time I awoke, the boy was there.”

Bruce put his hand over Damian, his lips pursed. He clearly didn't like how his son was treated, and looking around, none of them were. “Did he do anything?”

“He told me to rest.” Damian said simply, brows furrowed.

“And you did?” Tim asked, dumbfounded. Dick was just as confused, Damian barely took orders from them that he deemed unnecessary, so him listening to a random civilian? It was unheard of.

“That was the strange thing. The moment he told me to, I was overwhelmed with drowsiness. I couldn't help falling asleep.”

A magic user? Dick thought speculatively. Or perhaps a meta? There were many abilities that could cause someone to fall unconscious with just a word, and just as many with aftereffects. Dick prayed that there weren’t any lasting effects on Damian, he wasn't sure what he would do if there were.

“I knew there was something up with him!” Tim announced, jumping up from his seat. “The fact that he was so calm in such a bloody environment was the first clue. Why would he be calm, let alone stay in that warehouse, when he was abducted and watched others be sacrificed? Plus, despite telling us the Corpse God—or God of the Dead, whatever— there was no sign of the being other than the cultist’s dismangled bodies. Why did he lie?” He paced back and forth, letting his theories flow like water.

Cass knocked on the wall, gathering their attention. She signed, “He didn’t lie.”

“He didn’t?” Dick questioned, understandably confused.

She shook her head, “He was truthful the whole time, but was he hiding something.”

“He could have been misleading you.” Steph crossed her arms. “He was being pretty vague in the recordings I watched. Plus, some of his words could have been taken in a different way.”

“That's true. The way he slipped away from us wasn’t something a civilian could do. Even a meta would be hard pressed to disappear from right under our noses.” Jason spoke up, a thoughtful look on his face.

“I’ll call Zatanna.” Bruce sighed, getting up from his seat. “Get some rest, we’ll have a long day tomorrow.”

“He’s right. We need to conserve our energy for interrogating Polka tomorrow.” Dick ushered his disgruntled sibling towards the staircase leading to the manor.

Once he was sure they were in their rooms, Jason deciding it was too late to go to his own safehouse, he returned to the cave. Damian was unsurprisingly still awake, his stubbornness fighting against his weariness.

Dick dimmed the lights of the cave and headed towards the infirmary. Giving his brother a quick peck on the forehead and tucking him in, much to Damian’s displeasure, he grabbed a tablet and wrote up a report next to the cot. He made sure to include his sibling’s theories in the notes margin.

Soft muttering sounded off to the side, behind the infirmary’s curtain. After making sure Damian was asleep, Dick crept towards the sound. Around the corner, Bruce’s frustrated voice spoke. He ended the call a minute after he spotted Dick leaning on the wall with his arms crossed.

“Constantine?”

“Zatanna was busy.” Bruce ran his hands through his hair. He was clearly tired after the eventful day, but Bruce would continue working despite his complaints, Dick bitterly thought. He shook his head, now was not the time for those kinds of thoughts.

Dick hummed and walked towards the Batcomputer. He sat down, Bruce a couple feet away typing away on another monitor. He transferred his half finished report to the computer in front of him, finding a keyboard easier to write with than a tablet.

He let out a yawn. He had been up for more than twenty four hours, most of that time spent patrolling and studying cases in the Batcave. He laid his head on his arms, a quick nap wouldn't hurt, would it?

Distantly, he felt a heavy weight cover him. He let out a murmur of thanks for the blanket and fell asleep, not hearing the whispered response.

The insistent buzzing of the tablet woke him. He stretched, his back popping, before unlocking the tablet. A gasp escaped him once he laid eyes on the screen.

“Uh, B? You’ll need to see this.” Bruce looked at him in question before rolling closer, eyes widening slightly once he read the article.

In strikingly bold letters, the headline was “JOKER MAULED BY THE UNDEAD”.

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Wrote a large chunk of this months ago and just sat on it since I didn't know how to write batfam interactions. I'm pretty satisfied with how it came out :)

──── ∘°❉°∘ ────

Masterpost | Part 3

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froggyphycosis · 4 months

Text

Sleepless nights and something handcrafted

Fic based on a headcannon by @turtleblogatlast which is here (might contain spoilers so I'll link it at the end aswell if you want to read it after)

Summary

Pretty much all of Leo's comics are destroyed from the Kraang and Shredder so he has to read them all digitally. Mikey finds out and does somthing about it.

5899 words

Uhhhhh tw's and cw's real qiuck

Swearing

panic attacks

Nightmares

Implied/refferences to death (in a dream though nothing serious or majorly descriptive)

And characters being in pain

Eughhhh that sounds bad but I swear this fic is hurt/COMFORT so

(if there's anything in forgetting to tag let me know please!!)

______________________________

It's quiet, and calm.

Its reached that rare lull in the lair where everyone is off to do there own thing peacfully without another brother to cause chaos or niose along with them.

And suddenly, (and not at all surprisingly) Mikey finds himself bored, lying in his hammock and to tired to do anything and lonely without the immediate proximity to one of his older brothers.

It's an achievement if anything, it's the first time since the invasion that there hasn't been anything to do, no medical checkups to take care of, no panic attacks to be had... Just peace.

No one is actively dying, the chores are done, hes already cooked dinner (dad had even joined them aswell! He'd been doing that more often since the invasion, it warmed Mikey up a little on the inside he liked it when dad ate dinner with them and secretly hopes he keeps doing it).

So what does Mikey do then? he already knows he's gonna seek out one of his brothers, but who....

Well Donnie is busy in his lab right now using really loud machinery, and as much as Mikey *loves* sitting and drawing in the lab with him, it would be to loud to concentrate on anything.

He could go and hangout with Raph.... but he's training, trying incredibly hard to acclimate to the lack of sight in his right eye, and Mikey doesn't want to interrupt that.

So that means.... he can hang out with Leo!

Great! The portal duo for the win! He thinks triumphantly. Mikey can't think of anything that Leo could be doing right now. He knows that Leo isn't out with Usagi, since he went out with him before dinner, and he probably wouldn't have gone to April's without texting the group chat first...

So he's definitely free!

Mikey hops up from his hammock with more excitement than is probably necessary, and skips his way to Leo's room.

"LEO!" he shouts, slamming the door open with his foot, and happily watching as Leo jumps out of his shell.

"FU-JESUS Mike what in the all living HELL do you want??"

"Company!"

"The fuck do you mean company??"

"I'm like, reaaaaaaaaal bored right now, so I need a sibling to fill that void! And I'm obviously picking you!" he doesn't move from where he's standing, because if Leo is actually doing something he doesn't want to be interrupted from, Mikey will leave.

But just as he thought, (and maybe kind of planned) Leo rolls his eyes affectionately, switches his tablet to one hand and holds out his arm, Mikey doesn't need anymore encouragement than that, he dives into the bed and cuddles himself right up into Leos side.

"Sooooooo what'cha doin?"

"Reading comics," he snorts.

Mikey pauses, looking around the bed,"What where? thought you were doing somthing with your tablet?"

"Yeah I was I'm reading them on digital." Leo lifts up the screen, and holds it out in front of him, Mikey can see the grainy image of one of Leo's favourite JJ comics. "they all got destroyed remember? And I couldn't buy them so I just read them on here."

Mikey's stomach drops.

Oh crap, he had completely forgotten most of Leos comics were *destroyed*. He glances over at the corner of the room, where sure enough, a heap of his old comics were laying in a pile, destroyed beyond repair.

"Oh Leo.... I am so sorry, I had completely forgotten about your comics that must be awful," Mikey sinks a little feeling bad for even having come into the room now "sorry for bringing it up."

"W-what Mike's it's fine it doesn't even matter! I'm not upset really!" Leo looks midly shocked and a little guilty, which is stupid because Mikey brought it up.

He chucks the tablet to the side nonchalantly, rolling his eyes "Its fine! I don't even really read comics that much anymore ya know??" he smiles nervously.

Yeah, because you don't have any, is what Mikey wants to say, but he very patiently keeps his mouth shut.

Mikey knows he's lying, he can see it, he's far more perceptive than his brothers are. He can see the way Leo's eyes get a little bit shinier,the way his brow creases and he avoids Mikey's eye contact like it's the plague.

And the box turtle's heart sinks.

It's not okay, *it's not*, all of his old comics that are still intact enough to keep, but not enough to read, are piled up in the corner, a constant reminder of lost childhood.

It makes *Mikey* want to cry looking at it, he can't imagine what it must feel like for Leo to look at it every night.

Mikey doesn't push Leo on the subject, they end up going to play animal crossing with Dee instead but it doesn't leave Mikey's head for an instant, bugging him like and itch at the back of his skill that he can't itch.

He's going to find a way to fix this, even if he has to walk across a mile of broken glass to do so.

________________________________

Mikey doesn't sleep that night, even if his body is exhausted, (even months later his body still feels drained from opening that portal).

He probably shouldn't be awake, they did all agree on set sleeping times, or at least lying-down-and-trying-to sleep-times the name was a work in progress.

And he might be a little hypocritical for not following that since it was his idea-But! In his defense, he was on an important mission! So it was like totally 100% fine.

He was trying to find copies of jupiter Jim comics for Leo, because he was obviously sad about it, even though he wouldn't admit it. And Mikey was *officially*, the worst little brother in the entire whole wide universe, if he'd didn't *try* and do somthing about it.

So that's what he was doing obviously.

Leo was the bravest person he knew. He had been through hell and back for his family, and even the world, for people he didn't know.

He was an incredible big brother, and leader, and Mikey decided this was his way to give back just a fraction of that kindness in return.

Then again.... the universe seemed pretty against him right now, blessing him with the lack of any physical copies, of any kind of jj comics, on the entire internet.

Mikey spent the whole night, scouring the internet, and using every website he could think of to find them, but alas, not a trace. Dammit, why couldn't dad have found really well known dvds and comics thrown away in the sewers for Leo's and Donnie's birthday? This situation would have been so much easier.

Maybe like Harry Potter, or something, he wonders how much different their life would be if that ever happened, maybe Dee would've believed in magic sooner. (he makes himself snort with that one).

It takes him 5 hours before he finally stops and decides to throw in the towel, he's going to have to quit, there isn't anything anywhere. Which just sucks, because Mikey hates losing, and hates giving up on anything even more, but he closes the laptop down anyway with a sigh, and shuffles down into a more comfortable position.

He glances at the clock across the room, and eughh boyyy.... Well it's 7 o'clock, so he's going to have to get up in 10 minutes to make breakfast.

He stayed awake all night.

Whoops.

Stupid vintage comics he thinks darkly.

He'll have to go up topside to try and find some in a comic book shop tommorow he thinks as he finally let's his exhaustion give in and closes his eyes.

_____________________________

"UGHHHHHHHH," Mikey groaned loudly, dropping the comics in his now 5 fingered hands. His loud outburst garnering several odd looks from the staff and other shoppers in the store.

"April they have to be somwhere right??"

Casey and April both glanced at eachother, and then over at him sympathetically.

"Look Mikey..." April starts, before CJ pipes up next to her, having resumed flicking through the comics.

"Mikey, we have been to almost every comic shop in new York, big and small i mean this as politghtly as possible, I don't think we can get Leo's comics back." he looks at Mikey softly, "I'm sure he would appreciate the effort though."

He couldn't help but diflate at that, he's failed *again*, he's failed Leo....

April walked around the box, and pulled him into a hug that he happily buried himself into, and Casey, in a rare show of public affection, joins aswell.

But when he finally pulls apart and swipes an orange sleeve over his eyes, he suddenly gets a plan so cool, so ultimately awsome and incredibly smart that even *Leo* would be jealous.

"Okay, guys, I think i know what i need to do," he looked up at April and gave her the most mischievous grin he could offer "I think we're gonna need to take a trip to the art store."

"ohhohohohono what does that look mean?? What are you up to?" she squinted at him hands planted on hips

"hush now april," Casey places a hand on her shoulder, and the other on his heart "that look can only mean great things," he grinned "so Mikes where we heading?"

______________________________

Leo hopped across the platform over to Mike's train cart, his leg was acting up today much to his own dismay, not so bad to tell anyone though.... Just bad enough that walking was a little inconvenient, he probably didn't need any meds to be honest, he should be fine.

He gets to the door of the train cart and slams it to the side as hard as he can, (payback for the other day) it bangs when it hits the frame.

"Ohhhhhh Miguelllll!!!"

He gets sight of Mikey staring at his tablet, (it's almost a mirror of April without her glasses Leo thinks with a smile) before he slams his sketchbook closed, and shoves everything within arms reach off his desk, Leo has already been there a few seconds watching this unfold.

Okayyyy....That was....Odd...

"ohhhhhh hey Leoooo...," Mikey smiled nervously, hands tapping against his plastron. It's a stim he's had since was a tot, "so ummmm what are you doing in my room?"

"nothinnnnng.... So what were you drawing?" he glanced down at the sketchbook that had been shoved on the floor, still open, he could only make out the faint sketches of boxes and nothing else, before Mikey slammed it shut and held it to his chest.

"N-nothing," his little brothers face doesn't look caught anymore, it looks worried now, and that face twists somthing in Leo's stomach.

"wait, shit, Mikey have your hands been acting up again??" oh fuck oh no "Mikes we talked about this, if they start hurting you have to tell somone even if you don't think it feels that bad."

He feels a switch go off on his brain the second he thinks Mikey is hurt and everything else goes out the back window.

His little brother has a tendency to fix things, not in the way that Donnie does, with his intellect and his smarts, with nuts and bolts and tech and limitless knowledge.

Mikey fixes sadness, and hurt, he comforts and loves with a single minded focus that leaves anyone in its wake absolutely astonished at how plentiful and sincere it is.

No matter who it is, where it is, or when it is, if it's broken he'll fix it.

But he will *always* leave himself behind.

Its not intentional, he doesn't mean to, he'd take care of himself if he realized. But once Mikey has his mind made up? Its done. He'll get it done no matter what, leaving him to forget about himself.

He's lucky enough to have a family that recognises it, and help before it gets to bad.

"What no my hands are fine Leo seriously!"

"yeah Mikey, maybe so, but I'm still gonna take a look now put 'em out ."

Mikey doesn't retaliate, just takes his wraps off exasperatedly and lays his hands out for Leo to see.

He doesn't react when Leo softly presses down on the scars, and bends his finger and elbow joints gently so they probably weren't hurting.... And the shakes are small and unnoticeable unless you look hard.

So Mikey is fine.

Then why was he so jumpy before???

"hows your leg doing Leo?"

Leo's head snaps up to meet Mikey's gaze, feeling to shocked by sudden line of questioning to actually answer immediately.

"o-oh uhm my leg is fine Mikey, thanks for asking."

He feels the tension drain out of him now that he's sure Mikey isn't hurt, he looks fine, if a bit panicky, and Leo is starting to wonder what kind of secret he's hiding in his sketchbook. The blackmail opportunities could be unreal....

He's *definitely* trying to cover something up, now Leo *can* just outright say that he knows that, but watching Mikey try, and fail, to lie about it, would be waaaaay funnier.

"OH really.....?" Leo stares him dead in the face even though its not being returned at all "so if your hands aren't hurting, why won't you show me your art? what kind of things were you drawing exactly..?"

Mikey squeaks, and his face dips into his shell a little before popping out again fully, to yell "U-UH ITS TUPER SOP SECRET!!!"

Damn, Dontron probably heard that from his maximum security sound proofed lab, *and* with full volume music blasting through his headphones.

"awww come on, please tell me, please please please please!!" he clasps his hands together and makes what he hopes are decent puppy dog eyes.

His little brother doesn't answer him, instead he sinks down further in his shell.

"Mmmmmnnno, and you still haven't told me why you were in here either?"

Its probably the most awful attempt Leo has ever seen at changing the subject, but he takes pity on his brother and decides to go along with it anyway.

"Nothing really I was just bored and wanted to see if you wanted to come and play Mario kart with me?" he grins "you do owe me for the entertainment I provided you with the other day."

The box turtle visibly perks up at this face now fully visible.

"omigosh!! yes! absolutely! I would love to!!" he threw hi sketchbook behind him, and hopped off his chair "lead the way Leon!!"

Leo couldnt help the laugh that sputtered out of him. How Mikey could go from dying of fear, to sunshine and smiles in such a short time was beyond him.

"yeah yeah alright, would you mind giving me a hand though? my leg is kinda sore today."

Mikey swings round and looks at him accusingly "I thought you said it was fine??"

Oh shit yeah.

"Y-yeah it is!! its just a little sore, promise, now come on give me a hand you goof."

Mikey rolls his eyes, but can't help the grin that over takes his face and agreeably lends Leo his shoulder.

He won't bother Mike about whatever he's hiding, Leo may be crazy curious, but he knows that if Mikey does anything to dumb or to stupid, he's got him to rely on and go to when he's in need of help, so Leo feels comfortable in letting him hide whatever it is he's hiding, plus he thinks he'd know if it was somthing bad.

____________________________

It was roughly around 3am, and the little sleep Leo got these days was unfortunately interrupted yet again with another nightmare, another dream about the Kraang again, but this time it was concentrated on *Mikey*.

His mind kept playing a loop of the exact moment when Mikey left-when he was gone, gone gone gone gone gone, went cold in Leos arms and, and-Leo woke up. Drenched in his own sweat, hot and frozen at the same time, still stuck in the position he fell asleep in. Unable to move, it took him an eternity before his *useless* muscles finally dragged themselves upright and out of his bed.

He was sprinting towards Mikey's dimly lit glittery train cart before he even realized he was doing it. Chest heaving, and the ache in his leg only second hand awareness at best.

Warm orange light was pouring out of the cart, and the smell of that citrus diffuser his baby brother always insisted on using was so subtle, but so overwhelmingly comforting, that it sort of makes Leo want to cry.

The lights being on must me he's awake then, and Leo thanks pizza supreme in the sky, because waking up his brothers from the little sleep they got nowadays felt awful. And doing it to Mikey always felt the worst, because that was his little brother he was waking up, and for his own stupid needs too.

Stupid. stupid. stupid. Stupid.

He slides open the door as quietly as he can,his eyes taking a minute to adjust.

Mikey is passed out on the floor, pens pencils, headphones and other art supplies scattered around him and it makes his heart momentarily jump into his throat seeing he's not awake-not alive *not moving*. He snaps out of the spiral quickly though and realizes he needs to calm down right now or he's gonna pass out.

Having a panic attack in his little brothers room is not the most optimal place to do so, so the slider takes a minute to compose his frenzied nerves realizing how worse it's gotten since he woke up. So sitting next to his *sleeping* brother, he breathes in and out in slow even breathes, in the way they all learnt to, it was almost muscle memory by now.

Ha, if only it was that easy to actually calm down.

Leo stands up joints creaking and leg whining in the protest, oh right, he ran here, that's gonna hurt like a bitch tommorow he just knows it.

Picking Mikey up is usually no problem, hes small and lightweight compared to his brothers, but with his shaking arms and tired body, (that's currently down a leg) the task is almost monumental, and he feels out of breathe by the time he's dumped the box turtle into his hammock.

He can still hear soft music playing from Mikey's headphones and he picks them up and listens to it. His mind is still groggy from all the running and panicking, so it takes a second to realize whats playing.

Oh! It's Mr sunshine! Ha, he's so good.

Oh, wait. it's Mr sunshine. maybe they should talk about that later...

He turns the headphones off and puts it on his desk along with his pens, pencils, rubbers, rulers-who needs four rulers?? Where did he even get this all from?who needs this many art supplies and aren't half of these markers dried out anyway??

He can't even be bothered to ask right now, he unceremoniously dumps all of it back on the desk without further question, he picks up Mikey's phone, hoping that he was just listening to music and not staring at that it, would be awful for his eyes. But when he picks it up however he's not greeted with music, but a comic book. And not just any comic book, he notices belatedly,but his favourite.

Jupiter Jim and the eight giant dragons of evil why would he be reading that?

Leo blinks a few times, a bit confused to say the least, before he finally glances down at the sketchbook in his hands.

And sees and exact replica of the page but in pencil.

And then it clicks. everything clicks.

holy shit, Mikey is trying to recreate his favourite comic book. But there's no way??

Now Leo doesn't know much about art, he half listens to info dumps about trashy a.i art, and the hatred that Mikey has for wearing gas masks (against solid protests from himself, Raph and Donnie to do so otherwise

But Leo knows that making a comic book is *hard*, harder and more time consuming that it has any right to be, even for a good artist like Mikey-and he would know! He tried making his own when he was like 12 only to get frustrated an angry 2 minutes in, and quit (he hasn't tried since).

And secondly, how did he even realize he had wanted the real version of a comic anyway? He hadn't *asked* for one, hadn't hinted at wanting it. He swore Mikey was actually a fucking mind reader sometimes, maybe this was just another "mystic warrior thing" he doesn't get.

And then, the sudden, very violent urge to cry swamps him. Even if Mikey never finishes this project never gives it to him, he still *wanted* to.

The fact is, that Mikey, with injured arms, and a hundred other more intersting and wonderful projects more worth his time, is going to attempt to make a comic for *him* and it sort of makes Leo want to cry. It *does* make him cry.

He holds the sketchbook close to his plastron and let's the tears slip down his face. He doenst know what he'd do without his family, without Mikey, he doesn't know what he's Done to deserve the endless patience and comfort that his brothers provide.

He leaves after a minute or two, when the tears on his face stop flowing, leaving sticky trails down his face, and his breathing is no longer raggid from the crying. He leaves the sketchbook and phone where they are, closed and turned off.

Hopefully Mikey will think it was another brother that came in and fixed this all up for him. Or maybe he'll simply belive he cleaned up and put himself to bed and just doesn't remember.

"goodnight little brother, get a good rest."

_____~roughly 2 weeks later~________

Mikey took a deep breathe in, and a deep breathe out. His head was starting to ache from lying it down on his desk for so long, he had decided to take a short break from drawing Leo's comic a while ago, much to his disdain. Although he can't say specifically, since everything in his head feels like molasses, and he's to busy concentrating on the never ending pain in his hands to think about it for to long.

It feels almost nauseating. His body thrumming uncomfortable, the itchy, fiery energy getting stronger, hands shaking more fiercely until it reaches its peak, and his while body seizes up and let's go.

(Its his own fault, this doesn't happen unless he pushes himself to hard. Apparently 6 hours straight of art is not good for you.

Noted.)

He *wants* to pick his head up, he *wants* to carry on drawing, he *wants* to be able to do this for Leo, but he just *can't*. He's useless, his own body is betraying itself, consuming itself in and endless mystic well of power that it itself created, and Mikey can't do anything but sit here and whimper in the dark.

He feels pathetic, he doesn't even know how long it will last. The longest period was 6 hours, which is the closest to living hell he's ever been, beside watching Leo throw himself into the prison dimention, followed closely in second by opening the actual portal itself.

He can't even move enough to grab his phone and call his brothers, he can't scream or talk. So he sits there, and cries and sobs and hiccups openly, and loudly, praying that *someone* will hear him. Thankfully but no sooner than he had started crying, had the small sliver of light coming through his door begun to get bigger, and his train cart door began to open.

".... Angelo?."

It was donnie.

*Thank god.*

His voice was still failing him, unable to speak but overwhelmed with the desire to say *something*, he just cried harder.

"woah woah woah! Okay okay Angelo I'm right here okay? Your safe, your fine." he crouched down by the desk so he was closer to Mikey's face "I'm... I'm gonna pick you up now okay Angleo? If I end up hurting you in any way just uh chirp okay?"

Donnie put an arm underneath his legs and shell, and lifted him up into a bridal carry, pausing slightly to listen for the sound of Mikey's distressed chirp, before continuing forward towards his door. Mikey slumps and closes his eyes, pressing his warm face into Donnie's cool arm. He let's out a sigh of content, no longer cramped from being stuck in a stiff and awkward position, for who knows how long.

Donnie sighs,in that long suffering kind of way he always does when his family has done something stupid, but Mikey doesn't bother to open his eyes to see what face he makes.

Mikey thinks he must have fallen asleep at some point, because when he's next aware, he's being handed off to a very worried looking Raph.

"hey big man sorry to wake you up, you can carry on cuddling with Dee in a minute he just needs to do somthing okay?" Raph is smiling down at him and holds him just a little tighter.

Mikey nods, and rubs his eyes turning his head so he can look at the scene in front of him, (his hands barely even hurt anymore, maybe they rubbed that special cream that Draxum made on them) they're in the TV room now, illuminated by the projection screen paused hlaf way through on one of Leo's favourite movies, him and Donnie are placing various pillows and blankets on the floor.

Leo is whispering something to his twin in a frantic, worried, hushed tone that Mikey is to tired to parse right now.

But Donnie looks at Mikey for a fraction of a second, before rolling his eyes affectionately and placing down the last of the pillows, (they were probably talking about him, he hopes he isn't barred from making breakfast tommorow though, he wanted to make omelettes) huffing, when Raph unceremoniously flops down on top of them shell first, Mikey still being held against his plastron. Raph opens up his arms and Leo snuggles right up beside him, whilst Donnie snuggles into Raph's other side.

Mikey can feel himself start to drift off into comfortable sleep again, when he feels a familiar finger rudely poke him in the face. He opens his eyes just barely to see a familiar blue mask and worried brown eyes peering back at him.

"sorry mi hermano this'll be quick, I promise, what were you doing that caused your arms to flare up so badly?"

Mikey feels annoyed that he's being kept up for this but sighs and concedes "mmmmm I was drawing for a really long time.... and i didn't take any breaks..." he mumbles, shutting his eyes again, falling faster into darkness this time.

"oh....." Leo sighs softly "your to nice for you own good little brother..." Mikey barely even registers his brother's voice anymore, to busy falling asleep to even notice it.

_________________________________

Mikey grins and closes the comic book, he holds it out in front of him looking at all his hard work.

Its done. It's finally done. It took him a month of non stop drawing almost every day to do it.

But he did it.

He puts the Comic down, just to spin around his room and kick his legs, orange flecks of mystic trailing behind his flapping arms.

__________________________

"Oh Leoooooooo~," he sang, sliding into the living room hiding the comic behind his back, and directly away from the view of his older brother "guess what."

"What?"

"I said guess."

"....Mikey are you being serious right now?"

"Yuppers!"

Leo threw his head back and sighed "you know I may sound like Donnie right now, but there are an infinite amount of things to guess from so you may have to give me a hint."

"okay! So I got you gift, buuuuuut you have to guess what it is."

Leo's back straightens and he stares at Mikey with much more exitement "wait are you being serious? You got me a gift?"

"Yeah haha I did, would you like me to just give it to you?" he feels nervous now, he's not really sure he's ready for this, but is going to do it anyway against his own better judgement.

"Uhm yes obviously?? Now gimme" Leo puts out his hands and makes a grabbing motion like an impatient child awaiting to be given something, it's clearly to lighten up the situations which Mikey is making weird with his nervousness.

"Pftttt okay okay here take it."

He walks over to Leo and passes him the comic praying that he likes it, Mikey does, he's so proud, but that means nothing if Leo doesnt like it.

Leo takes the comic and looks closer, his eyes widen when he realizes what it is he's holding, "oh my god Mikey did you *make* this?".

"mhm! I noticed you didn't have any physical copies of your comics and they can't be bought like anywhere, online or off, so I decided to make you one!"

Leo's hands tremble as he deftly turns each page oddly quiet.

Mikey watches as his face morphs into something warm and touched, his smile big and eyes watery-

Wait what?!?

A big fat tear slips down Leo's face without a hand coming to wipe it away and Mikey stands there stunned.

He's watched Leo cry many MANY MANY times, whether it be due to a scraped knee, or a broken scateboard when they were little or due to nightmares over the Kraang, Mikey's seen it all. Him and Leo have always cried the most. But he's never seen Leo cry over something as simple and as meaningless as a comic book before.

"Mikes, did you *make* this for me?" his voice wobbles as he speaks, a disbelieving smile still stretched across his face, still holding the book and flipping through its pages slowly and carefully, scanning each page like he hadn't read them all a million times before, like they were something new, something precious.

Mikey feels slightly vulnerable and embarrassed when Leo looks up at him, remembering that there are definitley some really awfully drawn pages in there, nights where his hands wouldn't stop shaking, or the pose was just to difficult and seeing him cry over it is a bit worrying.

Mikey looks at the corner of the room, man he should really do some dusting, "um, yeah, sorry by the way, some of them are really badly drawn, a-and i know you've already read it a million times so it's really not that goo-"

Leo cuts him off by grabbing the strap around his shell and pulling him down onto the been bag into a 10/10, ultimate crushing big brother hug.

Mikey doesn't fight it these hugs are the *best* hugs.

"mikey- i cant-*holy fuck*, this is like, the nicest and most thoughtful gift i have *ever* been given the fact you even noticed I missed my comics makes me want to hide in my shell and cry so hard my tear ducts will explode, don't you *ever* apologise ok?"

Mikey felt HIMSELF tear up.

Your artwork is incredible and so so beautiful, Leo sniffs and Mikey feels so happy, (he's pretty sure his arms are glowing, not that he can see from where his snout is buried in Leo's shoulder) "i can't believe you put in the effort even with your hands to make a whole comic book just to make me feel better, that must have taken forever."

"I'm-im-yeah, I'm so glad you it Leo."

They stay like that for far to long, sitting on a bean bag that is way to small to fit them both, laughing and chatting and crying whilst look through the comic.

______________________________________

It's not his old comic book, with ink smudged and faded colours, with nights spent rereading and loving. cherished, on its spot on the shelf, with worn edges and a broken spine. It's not the gift he was given when he was 9, a start of a long love for the franchise, and hours in the further of areas of the sewers to find more of them.

It's not any of that but it's something *more*.

Becasue it's *Mickey*.

It's his little brothers drawing, its long nights spent caring about him, and hope to make him just a tiny bit happier.

It's work, and shaking arms and passion. It's family and love and warmth, it's sleepless nights and something handcrafted, and Leo can see it etched into every line of the page. It's not old like it used to be, it's something wonderful, and something new, it's a gift, and every single line is different now because the adoration Mikey has for all of his brothers is radiating out of them.

Each mistake on the page is another mark of Mikey, another mark of his gift and it's meaning.

He can't ever get back what he's lost, he'll never be the same as he was, but he thinks now, whilst looking at the pages softly, this is maybe just a little bit better, just a little but more exciting and new.

Mikey will never know what this means to Leo, because to him, this is just another "small" act of kindness the same as he'd do for anyone.

And although Leo would never admit it, it makes everything he's been through just a little more smaller, and a little less scary, because if something this good can happen out of somthing so miserable? then maybe the future won't be so awful after all, and maybe it never was, his brothers will always be there for him, and he can't believe he ever doubted them in the first place.

_________________________________________

Please remember the idea for this fic was written by turtleblogatlast

And here's the the original little script they wrote!!! Read original script

Goooooood hahaha so uhm I hope you like it!! (Also sorry this became a little more Mikey centric than it was supposed to be I am a Mikey kinnie and tend to make everything about him😭)

I absolutely love your writing and the things you do so just think of this as a thankyou gift for being so cool!

I wanted to sprinkle more of your headcannon in haha but I didn't know where to start or when I could mention them sorry:(

Also apologies for all my head cannons I could help myself

"I will make this fic purely for someone else and won't add my own headcannons!......... F*ck."

#rottmnt #save rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #save rise of the tmnt #tmnt fics #rottmnt fanfiction #rottmnt leonardo #rottmnt leo #baja blast duo #portal duo #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt raph #tw panic attack #tw nightmares #cw swearing #tw pain #tw implied death #raccoonswriting

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