I have eaten nothing but plastic for 24 years and it's in every single fold of my brain

I’ll Get By

A/N: There are things I’m bound to get wrong about the 1940s and asylum’s, so please forgive me. There was also a lot of prejudice for people especially if they were gay, and there is a gay patient mentioned in the first chapter. If you’re uncomfortable with it please don’t read. Thank you!

Part 1: An Anomaly

1946 — St. Catherine’s Asylum

The heavy coating of stagnant rain water on the streets had nearly taken you out the moment you stepped onto the stone staircase of the building. The breath had been ripped from your lungs the moment you felt your feet slip.

You squealed in surprise and if it hadn't had been for the railing, you would have fallen on your backside. After righting yourself and fixing the starch nurse’s uniform you were deemed to wear, you unfurled your nearly broken umbrella and carried on.

You were rushing this morning, rushing into the front door of the asylum with your nurse's bag bouncing against your hip. Once you stepped through the door and shook off the umbrella twice, you had blown a curled piece of your hair out of your face.

“Close that damned thing right now!” One of the patients lingering near the door smoking—seemingly unbothered by the nurse who was supposed to be watching him—barked a demand. “Don’t you know opening an umbrella indoors is bad luck, you daft girl!”

You could have responded with ire at the man wearing faded blue pinstriped pyjamas, many other nurses had. I like other nurses, you knew he wasn’t mad, you knew he wasn’t the kind of man who lost his mind over drink or injury. He was a man who was stalwart in his sexuality and attraction to men, and for that, he was committed.

“Good morning, Mr. Samson.” You closed the umbrella and folded it up, adhering to his superstitions while offering him a small smile.

Mr. Lyle Samson was a man with streaky black hair and rather odd coloured eyes—one almost iridescent blue and the other brown—a crooked nose from it being broken, and thinly pressed lips. He was a cantankerous man, one who had grown more ire-some from the treatment he had received in the asylum. The doctors held little care for the patients, even less for men like him, and as it was, he had suffered as well at the hands of his family.

“Your lipstick is a mess, girl. Fix yourself.” He lifted the cigarette to his lips, inhaling the Camel brand smoke and exhaling from the side of his mouth. He had glanced you over, once more, before he extended his hand and clutched onto your wrist. He squeezed once then relaxed and squeezed again, a telltale signal he had used when he wanted to send a message.

“There’s someone new.” He mumbled under his breath, inching forward while staring you down with his blue and brown eyes. “A famous fella.”

“Famous?” You looked past him to the first floor nurses station, toward the nurse who was disposed to be monitoring him. “Someone famous?”

“Used to be, before the damned shit-hole government stripped him of his title.” He turned his head and spat a few inches from your feet, the aftermath of sucking back a Camel cigarette. “He’s in the men’s ward, hates the doctors.”

“Mr. Samson, smoke is over!” The haughty nurse who had been on monitoring duty for the Lyle Samson started her approach. You could hear the clack of her heels on the aged and worn wood floor, the heady stride of her feet as she rushed toward him.

You knew that atmosphere wasn’t kind to men like him, men who hadn’t wanted a traditional life that fit society’s norm’s in the 1940s. He was a man who was attracted to men, and for that, he was punished by both the authorities and his family.

“He’s fine, he was telling me about a new patient—“ you rose to his defence, vocally, and had immediately been chided by the nurse.

“He is not fine.” Her voice darkened, and her eyes narrowed explicitly toward you with a tempestuous manner. “He is finished his cigarette, and you need to head to the men’s ward.”

Your breath had hitched in your throat, your hands tightened around the handle of the umbrella. Your nails dug into the varnish of the wood, though not deep enough to leave a mark, your mind immediately racing. The men’s ward was no nurses’ top choice when doing their rounds, and there was often a lack of willing volunteers. For you to be assigned to the men’s ward, you knew it was some kind of hazing because you were the newest.

They would hand you over to the men on a silver platter, leaving you to the men, who were frequently mad and violent. While there were some who were left solely on lockdown and very rarely got to spend time in the common area, others were left to roam—within reason. You had spent time in the children’s ward, which was a close second to the least desired floor, and the least amount of time on the women’s ward.

“Me—“

“I don’t have time to argue, Nurse L/N.” She cut you off with a stern and harsh bite, directing her inability to care beyond base empathy toward you. “Now.”

Your feet carried you in a rush, moving you near the staircase that led to the men’s ward. You nearly tripped over your feet before you had even taken the first step. Your hand rest upon the wooden railing that would take you up the winding staircases. You would wander through doors that were locked every night until you got to the fourth floor, which was where the men’s ward was.

The asylum was laid out in 5 massive floors that extended through winding hallways that were dimly lit by old windows. On the main floor was the receptionist’s and the warden’s office. The doctor’s offices for the children’s and men’s ward were on the main floor, unlike on the women’s floor. The doctors themselves had no special interest in spending more time than what was necessary in those areas.

The women’s unit was on the third floor above the laundry, kitchen, medical examination and treatment rooms on the second floor. Next had come the children’s floor that was not nearly comforting enough for kids left behind or admitted. The fourth floor was dedicated to the men that were admitted and held in their own contained unit, like the children.

And then there was the fifth floor that was exclusively held and dedicated to the incurables. They were the men, women, and children who were so manic and wild, deemed impossible to fix, that they should be locked away and forgotten about. Lyle Samson was unfortunately going to be moved to the incurable’s floor after Doctor Rollins had determined his sick pleasures could not be fixed, and all attempts were feeble.

“The men’s ward…” your feet carried you slowly, every step felt as if there was an ounce of lead sewn into your flesh.

You moved through the staircases from floor to floor, starting from the main floor to the fourth. You stopped at the double set of wooden doors with frosted glass. The lettering for the men’s ward was scrawled in faux painted gold—a decorative addition to make people believe that this place wasn’t as nefarious as it actually seemed. You reached up and placed your hand upon the wood and pushed slowly, just enough to be able to slip through the door and into the ward.

The door felt heavy behind you as it shut with a bang, the force tipping you forward. All the weight of your body shifted to the front of your feet, more specifically your toes. You had nearly toppled, almost flailing entirely, until you felt a steady hand on your arm acting as a support pillar. However, you were soon to learn that it wasn’t just one hand on you but another, a large warm hand on the small of your waist that was immediately followed by a voice.

“The door always sticks,” you could only describe the voice as honey-laced whiskey, something deep and smooth but afflicted with a weariness, “you’re not the first nurse it’s nearly knocked over.”

The honey-laced whiskey voice belongs to someone you’ve never possibly imagined would be in a place like this. The man whose face was plastered across magazines—who had comic books created about him and had even starred in movies to stir the morale of the country during the war—was standing so close to you, you could see the green in his blue eyes.

His blonde hair was brushed out of his face and styled like you’d seen so many times before. There was a firmness to his jaw that allocated your attention before it was quickly drawn to the rest of him. His shoulders seemed unnaturally broad, and his chest was firm, despite the starchy grey uniforms the patients wore. You could easily detect the size of the American hero who had liberated men in Europe, and saved thousands.

The hero, who had been a beacon of light and hope, was squandered after the war. The papers called him mad with grief, a man who had seen the horrors of war and lost all sense of self. It happened after he had lost one member of the unit he led. The Howling Commandos lost Sergeant Barnes, or Bucky as he was known as, and Captain Rogers was never the same.

Although standing here now, looking at him as he held you steady after you nearly fell, you see none of the madness he was accused of. There was nothing whatsoever in his blue-green eyes to make you think he was mad enough to be here.

“Thank you…Captain Roger’s…” you spoke with hesitancy and the sound of your voice was enough to break the spell he had you under. In a moments notice, you’d been called to the nurses desk, breaking the firm yet gentle hold he had on you.

You turned your back to him and fixed your nurses cap, only recognizing his eyes on you when you felt heat starting to grow in your belly.

Closed starter for @wrathfulmercy

Miss Isadora Mary-Anne Meadows, daughter to the esteemed Sheriff Hugo A. Meadows himself, was a lot of things; pretty, kind, confident, an incredible baker, and a quality rancher to name a few. Desperate, however, was not one of them. Never desperate. Back in high-school the boys and girls would line up at her locker hoping for a chance to ask her out. After graduating they started showing up at their front door until her Daddy started threatening them all with one of his guns. It was cute at first, but now she wasn't getting calls or texts and, dammit, she hadn't had an orgasm that wasn't self inflicted in months! If she wasn't desperate, then what was she?

Of course her best friend, and cousin, Poppy decided she was sick of all the whining coming from the 20 year old blonde and hatched up a plan with two of their other friends to go to a bar to pick up men! Only one of them was legally allowed in a bar, but that didn't matter. They were going to a biker bar. It was a sleazy establishments that only roughhousers, bikers, and troublemakers went to. Men that wouldn't care or know who her Daddy was. Sure, it was dangerous, but she had been taught plenty of self defense and, honestly, it was just supposed to be a quick fuck to get it out of her systems. A one time thing. She just hadn't planned to get turned down.....Three times. By the same fucking man! At first she thought he was playing hard to get, maybe even scared because of their obvious age difference, but even after wearing her sexiest outfits and pulling out the best lines she could think of ( Her opening line that first night was "Do I call you Daddy before or after you take my clothes off?") and nothing. It had been 4 weeks now. 3 Fridays in a row of being told no and ignored, It was the 4th Friday since attempting, and she was definitely feeling desperate.

"Ughhh, Izzzz, please, just give up on the guy. He's not even that hot. like, yeah, I see the appeal, but he's probably gay or something." "Says the lady who goes for them tall,thin, sad alt fella's with too much bleach in their hair and skinny jeans. Yer not able to appreciate a fine manly specimen like I do just yet." "Alright bitch- Look, there's plenty of hot men in this bar that have been watching you and waiting for their turn!" "," Izzy sighed, casting her gaze over to the bar where the stranger she had been trying to get with sat with his back turned towards her and the girls. She was already two shots in and trying to decide if she could mentally handle a fourth attempt at getting in this mans pants. Casting her gaze around the bar, her eyes landed on another handsome man, though not as much up to her personal preferences, leering at her like she was a slab of meat. She was pretty sure if she asked him to, he'd take her out back and fuck her against the bar wall. It was reckless, but she was desperate.

"You're right," She sighed, stealing Poppy's obnoxiously pink drink to down half of it despite her cousins complaints as she stood up from her chair. Slamming it down, she winced from the sickeningly sweet strawberry flavor flooding her senses, and tousled her hair before sauntering over to the new, less attractive but still hot, man that had been looking at her for god knows how long.

Part 6 of incorrect les mis

Some or these may have been done.

Grantaire: I will not let a technicality stop me.

Joly: Techni- you mean the law?

Grantaire: Yes I hate that word.

-

Bahorel: I asked Feuilly out.

Montparnasse: Oh, I'm sorry.

Bahorel: Why?

Montparnasse: Well, I assume he said no.

Bahorel: No, he said yes.

Montparnasse: Really? Then I'm sorry for him.

-

Courfeyrac: Gay as fuck to be a angry politician. What are you mad about? Men? Are you just crazy about men?

Grantaire: I hear that politics is a man dominated field. Is that what you want? To be dominated by other men?

Enjolras: *confused* I beg your pardon????

Grantaire: *holding out a Bouquet of flowers* what's not clicking?

-

Jehan: Well, this is the last box of your clothes. I'm just gonna label it, 'What were you thinking?'

Feuilly: Funny, 'cause I was just going to go across the hall and write that on Montparnasse.

-

Courfeyrac to Combeferre: I don't know how many times I have to say this. Do not like a picture of my ass on Instagram if you don't want me in your DMs telling you to spank it, all right? Just don't do it.

-

Fantine: Javert, you and Valjean did not do it. And while I applaud your misguided efforts to make me jealous, I have work to do. So... leave.

Javert: I don't care about making you jealous. I just care about pleasing your fella.

Fantine: Valjean is not "my fella".

Javert: *smirks* And how!

-

Eponine: I've kinda of had this uh, this crush on you. But since you were with Marius, I-I didn't do anything about it. But, now that you're not, I'd really like to ask you out sometime. So-so that's-that's what I'm doing, now.

*Marius gets this hurt expression on his face and goes into the back room*

Cosette: Wow! Umm....

*A loud crash and the sound of breaking dishes. Followed quickly by another crash, Marius emerges with everyone looking at him*

Marius: I dropped a cup.

-

*Grantaire stops Combeferre*

Grantaire: Oh, Combeferre, I saw what happened. Is your boyfriend okay?

Combeferre: *stops short, looks at him* My boyfriend?!

Grantaire: Yeah, th-th-the loud little friendly one you're always hanging around with...oh, uh, Courfeyrac.

Combeferre: He's not my boyfriend.

Grantaire: Are you sure...?

Combeferre: Yes, I'm sure. I don't like him. He's shallow and loud, talkative. He's everything that I hate.

Grantaire: But Combeferre, you hate everything.

Combeferre: What's that supposed to mean?

Grantaire: Well, it means that... that maybe you like him cause... *sings* I kinda think you dooo.

Combeferre: No! How could I like him. Because I don't like him! Because I can't like him! Grantaire, if I like him.... shoot me.

Grantaire: *turns to him and makes a finger gun* POW!!

-

Grantaire to Enjolras: You'll figure out what to do Apollo, you have great instincts. You have a great butt too, but that's a whole other thing.

-

Bossuet, drunkingly confronting Musichetta: Hey you! Musichetta is it? Yeah. I don't know where you're from. But I'll have you know, I am the catch of Paris.

Joly: That's true. That's how he signed my yearbook.

-

Marius: Okay, remember, workout time tomorrow is 6:30. So get some rest. Or do what I do: lie awake and listen to your roommate do stuff with your other roommate on the other side of the wall.

*Everyone stares at Eponine and Cosette*

-

Joly, putting a hand on Bossuet's forehead: God, you're hot...

Bossuet: So are you.

Joly: With a fever.

-

Courfeyrac: We don't have to do nothing *looks around* nothing big was taken, probably some kids having fun.

Enjolras: Fun?

Courfeyrac: Yeah, you know, fun... that thing you've never had.

Enjolras: I have plenty of fun, okay *walks over to Grantaire and smiles* I'm fun, right?

Grantaire, looking Enjolras up and down: You're good lookin!

-

Eponine: Anyway, I was wondering if, you were the sort of person who... eats lunch.

Cosette: Are you asking me out? 'Cause it would be kinda weird since I just broke up with Marius.

Eponine: Yeah uh... okay. I'm-I'm sorry. Bye.

Cosette: No! Wait! I was just saying that so you'd think I was a good person. Fight for me.

Eponine: Uhh, I won't take no for an answer.

Cosette: Not great, but we can work on it at lunch.

-

*The other cops walking in on Javert packing up night vision goggles*

Javert: Oh man, I gotta go to the bench in town. I'm late to stalk Valjean.

-

Courfeyrac: So what, we just sit?

Combeferre: Ohh, no, no. We're not going to just sit. *calls Marius* Shhh.

Marius, answering the phone: Hello, Marius Pontmercy.

Combeferre, in a high pitched female voice; Hello Mr. Pontmercy... I love you.

Marius, angrily: Alright, whoever this is, stop calling me! *Les Amis silently laughing* It's been six months! It's not funny!

Combeferre: But, I love you.

Marius: Leave me alone! For the love of God, leave me alone!!!

*Combeferre hangs up*

Combeferre: And that's Wednesday.

-

Feuilly: We just have to really, really, really, not let stuff like money get--is that a hickey?

Jehan: No, I just, I fell down.

Feuilly: On someone's lips? Where'd you get the hickey?

*Bahorel high fives Montparnasse*

-

*Marius tries to enter the Cafe back room that has a voice command*

Marius: Marius.

Computer: Access denied.

Marius: Pontmercy.

Computer: Access denied.

Marius: Nostrils.

Computer: Access Denied.

Marius: *grumbles* Napoleon's Bitch.

Computer: Welcome, mari-quiff.

-

Marius: I know I didn't do anything wrong, but where am I gonna find another friend like Courfeyrac?

Eponine: Look, there are plenty of other fish in the sea, okay? It's like when you and Cosette broke up. It was for the best. And after a while, she found someone better. Me. And since then, I've enjoyed throwing that in your face as often as possible. What was your question again?

-

*Valjean and Javert hug*

Fantine: Could you cut it out? I gotta go home to an empty apartment.

-

*Marius wants to talk to a hidden Cosette*

Marius: Eponine, do you know where she is?

Eponine: 712 Forest Lane, blue house with a little flamingo on the lawn.

Marius: Wow. Stalk much?

Eponine: Yes.

do you have that quote where paul is like “john was kinky and would have sex with a married couple with man there but that wasn’t gay”

Hiya anon,

Not sure if this is the exact quote you’re looking for, but it sounds similar to me:

Well, who cares, I suppose, yeah. I mean, well, I care, ‘cause as much as, like… [pause] A-all I care about is that if he isn’t, then it’s a naughty. I mean, if John was–the trouble is, see, is he’s not here to fend for himself, and we can’t ask him, “‘Scuse me, John, are you–have you ever been gay?” I mean, he’s the kind— I remember people used to ask that. There were lots of people asking cheeky questions, and they were always saying, “Well, why–have you ever tried homosexuality, John?” You know, they always used to ask all that kind of stuff. I remember John saying to them, “No, I’ve never met a fella I fancy enough.” And that was his kind of opinion. You know, “I may go–I may be gay one day, if some fella really turns me on.” He was–he was that open about it. But as far as I was concerned, I slept in a million hotel rooms–as we all did–slept in a million places with John, and there was never any hint of it. So I suspect that it’s just a–it’s just something to sell a book. The guy will say that I’m a hopeless romantic, and I’m naive, and I’m an idiot, and I’m cloaking stuff behind this mask of secrecy, and I’ve got a great front and I’m really a wicked person behind it. But you know, you can say all that stuff, but I just don’t think it’s true. I think he just made it up.

— Paul McCartney in interview w/ Roger Scott, 1983

♡ + masculinity

Send me ♡ + a word, and I’ll write a headcanon / ACCEPTING / @kinklelegacy

Much like every aspect of Eddie's life, he does it his own way, and masculinity is no exception. Obviously, he does not buy into the typical type of masculinity like the jocks etc. He hates playing and watching sports and playing the tough guy, and despite fandom's love of projecting Eddie, the mechanic, onto the world. I don't think he cares about cars that much, personally. His van is about getting him from A to B, his band to gigs, and to drug deals when necessary. I think he knows a decent amount about cars----but it's not a passion for him.

I suppose you COULD say there is considered femininity to Eddie by Hawkin's and 'normal' standards, but that comes with contexts!! Eddie, at least my version of him, paints his nails, wears eyeliner and dons a few piercings, which is considered in the 80s and sadly still now, though not as much, very much a woman's thing. But Eddie is a metalhead, and that's pretty typical attire for metalheads; the Duffers are just pussy bitches. BUT the aesthetic of POPULAR metalhead style, appearance and culture largely began with the band Judas Priest, of whom the lead singer is gay gay gay. Of course, no one knew that at the time! But Rob Halford, the singer of JP. Created that particular look after witnessing it in gay bars and gay BDSM clubs etc, and it boomed within the metal scene. The metal scene was unknowingly influenced by gay culture for a long time, much to Rob's amusement. And if you know anything about the metal scene of the 80s and beyond, it's not particularly queer or feminine friendly, the opposite. So, that aspect of Eddie would not be seen as feminine in his own circle. But outside of it? Hell yeah. It would be seen as weird and girly. But Eddie has always grinned and bore his differences to the 'normal' guys of Hawkins, much to his own personal detriment. Because he'd rather be himself and face the unkind consequences than pretend to be someone he isn't. So, whether wearing make-up and jewellery is seen as feminine or not. Eddie doesn't really care, you know? He wears it because he wants to. If someone were to ask him why he's dressed like 'a girl' he'd be likely to shrug and say it's metal; it's just part of the culture. Get with it. I don't think it will get him until some years later maybe he just likes doing it outside of being a metalhead too.

Appearances aside, there's then the personality aspect. Eddie is a solid metalhead, no doubt. But he obviously doesn't prescribe to the typical personality of one. Yeah, he's got that working-class anger. But what working class person doesn't have that? But he certainly doesn't come off as an angry meathead. He's obviously the opposite of the typical metalhead stereotype. He's sweet and kind and looks after people. He's a soft lad. And that would have gone against a lot of what masculinity was considered to be at that time. America is still experiencing the aftermath of the Vietnam war, and they've got Reagen in power. Toxic masculinity is everywhere. To Eddie, being a metalhead is largely about living your truth, living your way, and doing everything how you want it. It's hardcore to live like that in a world that actively opposes it.

Do I think Eddie could have turned out to be a toxic meathead? ABSOLUTELY. The mould for it is right there with his abusive parents and a father who forced him into crime from a young age. It would have been extremely easy for Eddie to have been someone else. And I think his saving grace is obviously uncle Wayne. I think Wayne saved Eddie from turning out like his brother (I hc Eddie's dad is Wayne's brother). We see Eddie being particularly polite and chivalrous towards Nancy and Chrissy. And you can say he simply got that from reading too much fantasy fiction about knights etc. But, I choose to believe this is something that Wayne taught him because Wayne is about the only decent fella in the Munson family, and he wanted Eddie to grow up treating women much better than his brother did his wife before she killed herself. And, well, Wayne is a bit of an old-fashioned fella too, holds doors open for ladies, offers to escort them to their cars when it's dark, and do 'tough' manual labour for them. And he's poured all of that into Eddie too. So, depending on what kind of woman you are. Eddie would make a really great boyfriend and husband.

Furthermore, I came to another conclusion that Eddie has learned a lot about gender and femininity/masculinity from reading non-conformist literature, academic and fictional. In small-town Indiana, I think reading is more or less the only way he could have found certain things out aside from visiting bars etc, in bigger cities. He would have read feminist and queer literature that would take him further from the hegemony of 80s America. Until he's pretty much at a point of not caring about many labels. Women can dress, act and do whatever they want, just like a dude can. He actively supports that and champions female friends and girlfriends. So, while Eddie does take a chivalrous attitude with women. It’s just to be a decent person. As for gender and sexuality, that's something he's had to experience for himself, and it's not been great in small-town Indiana (not until Steve.) But given all he would have learned from teaching himself and hearing other stories, Eddie is very comfortable with his sexuality and his gender as a man in general and as a man who has sex with other men. Being fucked by another dude is nothing to do with masculinity. He thinks it's pretty metal to get fucked in the ass tbqh. And he's more than aware of how terrifying it is to be anything different in a place like Hawkin's, but he does it all the same because it's his one life, and his parents ruined enough of it already. No one else is going to tell him how to exist.

So, in a long-winded and roundabout way. What I've wanted to get at is that Eddie isn't a typical dude of his time and dominant culture. He's one of the people that the dominant hegemony actively fears because he causes disruptions to their way of ruling; heterosexual reproduction and the expansion of capitalism linked to heterosexual reproduction. That's why people in Hawkin's are scared of him. The government actively pushes controlled normalcy, and Eddie ain't it. He's the freak. He's not a man; he's something else. A something else that needs to disappear from American society and not be encouraged further. But he's refused to be quiet and be what people want him to be. It's honestly pretty gnarly that he's managed to make this of himself in a place like Hawkins during the 80s. No doubt that other people in rl managed it too, but he's a great shining example.

Can we get Sooga (and maybe Kohga) babysitting lil Tulin????

GET READY TO SEE THE GAYS BECOME DILFS, BITCHES.

“We came as soon as we saw your message.”

“Yeah, it was urgent! Where’s the fire?”

Teba turned as he saw Sooga and Kohga dash on into his home. He nodded at them.

“Yeah. Sorry. Was gonna ask Mipha, but she’s with her boy toy. Figured I’d trust you two instead.”

Teba took a step to the side, showing his son, Tulin, who was currently sitting on the floor, writing in his journal. Kohga cocked his head to the side, before shrugging.

“What? You want me to tell him to beat it? He a freeloader or what?”

“No. I need you two to chicksit for me. I’m taking Saki out, and I need someone to watch Tulin.”

Saki walked in just in time, adjusting her feathers.

“Teba, are you ready dear?”

“I’m ready, so long as these two are. So, how about it you two?”

Kohga was about to say ‘fuck no’, when he saw that look in Sooga’s eyes. He WANTED to do this, because he was a moron. Ugh. He sighed, before nodding.

“Fine. You two go and have fun, we got the little guy.”

Saki clapped her hands together, before leaning down to kiss Tulin’s head.

“Be good for Kohga and Sooga, my little nugget.”

“But not TOO good, kiddo.”

Teba patted his head, and Saki chuckled at the sight. She turned to the two yigas.

“Now, Tulin is supposed to be in bed by nine. No playing with Kass’s girls, as they’re supposed to be in bed, and they get into all kinds of mischief. That’s about it! Have fun you three, stay safe!”

Teba held his arm out for his lady, who giggled as she accepted it. Once they left, Sooga turned to Kohga.

“You didn’t want to do this. Why did you say yes?”

“Because YOU wanted to. And don’t look at me like that, you idiot.”

“I love you so much.”

“Tell someone who cares, moron.”

“You guys are weird.”

They both turned to look at Tulin, who was looking at them oddly. Kohga motioned to him.

“So...the fuck do we do with his white lookin’ ass?”

“Stop swearing, for one. It’s not good that he gets a pottymouth so early on. Two, we should properly introduce ourselves.”

Sooga walked over to him, kneeling down as he held out his hand.

“It is nice to meet you, Tulin. My name is Sooga, and that’s Kohga. How are you?”

Tulin put his book down, in order to stand up, and shake his hand properly.

“Hello! And good day!”

“What manners! And a good day to you too, little one.”

“My dad said good kids make good greeters!”

“God that’s a weird saying.”

Kohga sighed as he walked over to Teba’s hammock, before jumping into it, and getting himself nice and comfy. So comfy, he fell right to sleep. Sooga softly sighed. He loved his husband, very, very much.

“So. We have three hours until your bedtime, what would you like to-oh. You’re practicing your penmanship?”

Sooga looked over to the notebook on the floor, and Tulin nodded.

“Yep! Kheel has really pretty handwriting, I want mine to look good too! I wanna surprise her!”

“Huh. Why, if I didn’t know little one, I’d say that’s rather romantic.”

Tulin’s blush shone through his feathers, and he shook his head.

“N-no. She’s my friend, that’s it.”

“Uh huh, I see, I see,”

Sooga sat down next to Tulin, looking at the notebook.

“Regardless, I’d love to give you feedback. My father practiced calligraphy, I think I have a proper position on the matter.”

Tulin handed him his notebook, and Sooga skimmed through the pages. He nodded in approval.

“This is very nice! Have you shown your father?”

“No, just mom.”

“Why is that?”

Tulin shrugged, reaching up to grab his book again.

“It’s just a mom thing. Flight range and arrows are for me and dad, writing is for me and mom.”

Sooga nodded. Such a sweet, talented little boy.

“You have a good bond with your mother, little one.”

“Dad calls her a ‘worrybeak’, but yeah, I love my mom. Are you close with yours?”

Sooga froze. For a moment, he recalled her. Recalled her hair, her eyes, her smile. Her tears, her screams, her pain. His father holding onto her hand, his father scolding him for choosing to leave, using his mother’s name like a curse. A curse that cut into his hide like a-

“Yoohoo? Mr.Sooga?”

He suddenly snapped back into reality as Tulin waved his wing in front of his face. He cleared his throat, shaking his head.

“We...were. But she is no longer here.”

“Oh. I’m super sorry. What about your dad?”

“My father...wanted me to leave the nest, so to speak. But it’s fine. I’m loved enough.”

Tulin followed his gaze to Kohga, who gave his ass a good scratch. Tulin snickered, and Sooga couldn’t resist a small chuckle as well. Tulin put his book away, In order to look at his blades. The little rito was clearly very interested.

“Did he give you those swords?”

“No. Master Kohga did. Have you ever wielded a weapon before?”

“A bow and arrow, but never something cool like swords!”

Sooga thought about it for a moment. This child DID seem rather mature, despite his small size. Not to mention bows were just awful for up close combat. Against his better judgement, he decided to give the little one a gift.

“Would you like a present, Tulin?”

“YES! Please!”

Oh the way his little eyes shone in excitement. He pulled out something from his back, and placed it right into Tulin’s awaiting wings. A Vicious Sickle. Tulin looked it over in his hands, clearly in awe. Sooga chuckled, lightly patting his little bird head.

“It’s a light, easy to use weapon, with enough practice. It’s a wonderful starter weapon, and it never hurts to have extra protection. You will soon be the man of the house, you must learn to defend what is yours.”

“Woah! SO cool!”

Tulin was so excited, he started waving the damn thing around like a madlad. Even someone as calm as Sooga felt slightly panicked; for the only thing more dangerous than a blade, was an inexperienced hand. He grabbed onto Tulin’s hand, barely keeping himself from being cut.

“It IS cool. But what’s cooler is knowing how to use it. Would you like to learn?”

“Yes!! Please teach me! Please please please!”

“Very well. I should hope to be a good teacher to an eager student.”

Sooga held onto his hand, showing him the proper way to hold it; tightly, with the blade angled for a downward motion.

“Okay, I think I got it. Like this?”

“Perfect. Now, it’s a limber weapon, so if you need to move it in your hand, feel free to do so. Just be careful, it’s very easy to cut yourself. Now, let’s try to get a feel for it, shall we?”

Sooga stood up, and brandished one of his swords. He gave Tulin a moment to get his stance ready, before he let Tulin come at him. Course, he was very easy to block, but the point was so Tulin could feel comfortable holding it.

“Good, good. Side to side motions, just as you are.”

“It’s...kinda heavy, my arms hurt.”

“Suppose for your size, it’s not as limber as it is intended to be. Do your arms really hurt, or can you keep trying?”

“I...can keep trying, I think.”

“Good, a true fighter keeps going. Swing at me again.”

He noticed Tulin had to use almost both his hands as he swung. Poor thing was struggling. Light as his weapons were, Tulin was small. Determined, but very tiny. Still, he did rather well, all things considered. He blocked another blow rather easily.

“You aren’t uncomfortable around weapons. Good.”

“It’s usually bows, but training with my dad is a LOT like this.”

“Good of your father, teaching you to be comfortable with such a vital tool.”

He was about to do a mock swing, just to see if Tulin could dodge, when he saw Tulin was already weary, panting and even sweating a little. For living in a peaceful village, and armed with a bow and arrow, this WAS a lot of practice, especially from someone who was essentially a stranger. Sooga put his weapon away, and knelt down to Tulin.

“Why don’t we take a break? A weapon is useless without a body.”

“Okay...can we eat? I’m hungry.”

Sooga nodded, letting Tulin take the weapon, and sneak it into his own hammock. Tulin helped him find the cooking pot, and in a moment, Sooga had a fire going, and a few ingredients to throw inside.

“So, what are we hungry for?”

“I dunno, what can you make?”

“I suppose I can make poultry curry.”

“Oh! Yes! Do that one!”

Sooga nodded. He had no issues cooking the rice, and the chicken appropriately, and as soon as it was done, he handed a bowl to Tulin. Tulin dug into it hungrily, before slowly ceasing his eating. Sooga cocked his head down as the child stared at the bowl.

“What’s the matter?”

“I don’t like how it tastes. Super bland. I don’t wanna eat it.”

“God fucking dammit, Sooga, I can smell your shit cooking in my dreams.”

They both turned to look at Kohga, who had just woken up. He got out of the hammock, and walked over to the pot, taking the soup ladle to help himself to a taste. He then used it to smack Sooga on the back of his head.

“You. Cannot cook. I’d rather eat wet sand, at least THAT has salt.”

“I thought I was cooking it right-”

“Yeah right to hell. Fuck shit, move. What even is this?”

“Poultry curry.”

Kohga looked at him as if he had just gone insane.

“You’re...feeding chicken...to a baby chicken. That’s fucked up, Sooga.”

He was about to bitch at him some more, when Tulin nudged the bowl against Sooga. Kohga turned to look at him, and the little one was whimpering.

“Please fix it, I’m really hungry.”

“For the love of- fine. But only because I hate it when Sooga cooks.”

And Kohga did not disappoint. Not only did he fix Sooga’s awful poultry curry, he made the tastiest, sweetest egg pudding Tulin had ever tasted. The little one had two helpings of each, burping as soon as he was done. Kohga chuckled as he saw just how content the little guy was.

“Look at you, hungry fella. You need anything else, kid?”

“Uh huh. Can I please have some warm milk?”

“Sure, sure. I’ll make it just how my mom made mine.”

Tulin peered over as Kohga not only poured milk onto the pot, but cane sugar, courser bee honey, and even ground up some Chickaloo Tree Nuts. It made for a sweet, fragrant drink that Tulin accepted gleefully. He took one sip, and started kicking his little legs around wildly.

“This is SOOO good! This is WAY better than when mom makes it! Your mom is super cool!”

“She really was, she really was. Glad you like it, kiddo. Your turn, Sooga.”

Sooga didn’t LOVE sweets, but who was he to refuse such a treat from his Master? He accepted his own cup, took a sip, and found himself recalling...the good times. The times where he stood with his mother as they sipped tea, the times where she would get rid of his dirty, wet clothes, in order to get him warm and dry again. There was...only good in this drink, honestly. Sooga nodded, trying not to dwell so much on what was.

“I agree with Tulin. This is excellent. I’m surprised I’m just now trying it.”

“Eh, I only make it if I really need to go to bed. I usually make them with banana cookies-”

“Can you make those next time, please?!”

Tulin was practically giddy at the notion of more treats, and Kohga found it amusing. He patted Tulin’s head, nodding.

“Sure. Next time I’ll bring some over, just for you kid.”

“You’re SO cool!”

“I mean, I know that, but thank you.”

Kohga chuckled. He helped himself to his own drink, sighing in content. A nice, cold night, warmed by a nice fire, and some warm drinks. What more could one want? Sooga chuckled to himself, realizing he had downed nearly half of his cup. No wonder he was feeling so calm, so still.

“Thank you. I don’t think I’d know how to handle a hungry child who didn’t like my food.”

“That's why I’M the cook between us. Your food is so bland. I had half a mind to-”

He went silent, and Sooga saw why. Tulin had finished his drink, and had passed out, right into Kohga’s lap. Kohga struggled, clearly not knowing how to handle this, before groaning, and just patting the bird’s back, lulling him further into sleep. Sooga sat there for a moment, watching them. Kohga didn’t want children, but...they did like him. Found enough comfort in him to fall asleep on him, to cherish the plentiful meals he made them. Sooga even turned to look at his face, and caught him smiling oh so fondly at the little bird. Kohga seemed to catch his grin, and huffed.

“Hell you looking at?”

“I’m just. Seeing how wonderful you are with Tulin...and it really, really makes me realize; you’d make a wonderful, wonderful parent. You act so standoffish, but you...truly love taking care of children and-”

“God don’t you start that shit with me, Sooga.”

“I’m just saying! Family life might be for you! How do you know, you’ve never tried it!”

“Shut the hell up, you absolute fucking idiot.”

Sooga stopped for a moment as Kohga leaned into him, still keeping his hand on Tulin. Sooga looked down at these two, and was confident, more than ever, that he wanted a family. This feeling, that he was feeling right now, was something he desperately, terribly wanted. He wrapped his arm around Kohga, letting the dancing fire illuminate his features. He kissed the top of his head, softly sighing.

“I...love you. I love you so terribly much.”

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

“Sooga! Kohga! We’re ba-oh!”

Saki immediately silenced herself as she saw the little cuddle train that was happening here. Teba walked in behind her, chuckling at the sight. He nodded towards Sooga, who was too busy protecting them to sleep.

“Teba, Saki. How was your date?”

“Oh it was lovely, we went out to eat and everything. Quite sweet, honestly. Here, let me put him into bed, I’d hate for him to get a cramp, laying on the floor like that.”

Sooga, despite how it hurt his heart, let Saki take Tulin, and put him into his own little bed. Suppose that was his cue. He got up, carrying a sleeping Kohga in his arms. Teba nodded at him.

“Thanks for watching him. Hope he wasn’t too much for you two.”

“Not at all. You have a very wonderful, and very honest boy. You should be proud.”

“I am, I am, honestly. Especially if he made an impression on you.”

“I...hope this isn’t too much, but may we stay? I just, really wanted to-”

“What is this?”

They both turned to look at Saki, who was holding the vicious sickle in her hand. Teba winced, before shaking his head.

“yeah...I think staying is a really bad idea.”

Sooga looked at Saki, and shrugged.

“In my defense, he was excited to receive a present.”

So Sooga and Kohga weren’t ready to be dads.

Just yet, anyway.

Fellas, is it Gay to Kiss The Homies? <TEN-CENTRIC>

Genre: Light Hurt/Comfort

Pairings: Kunten (Qian Kun x Ten Lee) and implied (Ten x Everyone) [ALL SHIPS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE PLATONIC]

Word Count: 1455

Warnings: Fluff overdose, might give you diabetes /t

Synopsis: Ten just really likes kisses and he wants to give them to his friends. That’s it.

A/N: I wrote this wanting it to be Platonic!Kunten but tbh it may have gotten away from me a little bit so believe what you want ig

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30021543

Ten has always been overly affectionate. In the eyes of Weishennies, Winwin and Yangyang bear the brunt of it. On variety shows and lives Ten can sometimes be found floating around one of his two didis or entirely attached to them. It’s become a joke among fans and members, the way Ten calls Yangyang baby while the maknae responds with countless protests and whines. But something fans are unaware of is that off-camera, the Thai male’s affection extends to all the members. Ten is known to demand touches from most any friend in reach. Even Kun, despite the pairs’ constant bickering. The WayV members have grown used to Ten’s insatiable need to hold and be held. There’s a silent understanding between the 7 roommates. All the boys know that comforting Ten is just more of a physical thing. Each member understands, and some have even become fond of the actions. Most surprisingly Winwin. Though he seems like a total skinship anti, he’s all smiles whenever Ten envelopes him in a hug. 

For the endless love and acceptance of his bandmates, Ten feels so incredibly blessed. But even in such a wonderful situation, there are things Ten can’t have. And lines he dare not cross.

To Ten, there’s nothing inherently romantic or sexual about his lingering touches. To him, spooning with his friends is his way of showing platonic affection. Obviously some things are reserved for romantic/sexual partners: making out and things of the like. But the lines between friendship and partnership are far thinner to him than most. He hasn’t told his friends about his affinity for kisses, having only recently come to terms with it himself. All through his life he’s had these fleeting urges to kiss his friends, and he’d always passed them off as intrusive thoughts. But lately, these urges have become more persistent. When his members are especially kind to him, he feels his attention float briefly to their lips, wishing to give them a small peck. It’s always a peck. A forehead kiss, eskimo, cheek, knuckle, nose; always something innocent. A mere grazing of lips to skin. No matter how innocent the intent or the action, Ten can’t help but feel completely and utterly ashamed. 

Friends aren’t supposed to want to kiss each other, he chides to himself. The dancer already feels like enough of a bother asking to cuddle and hold hands, he fears that by taking the extra step, he’ll lose all 6 of them entirely. So he pushes these feelings deep down, and continues on, hoping the others don’t notice his worry. 

Unfortunately for Ten, Kun prides himself on being in tune with his members’ emotions. Kun first realizes something is wrong during one of the group’s rare off days. He and Ten had opted to stay home, the younger practically BEGGING him to continue watching Doctor Who with him. The two eldest boys have been watching it together for a couple months, and have already plowed through 2 seasons (that’s quite impressive considering how packed their schedules are). Since it’s nearly impossible to refuse Ten anything, Kun finds himself lazing the day away on the couch, carding his fingers through the soft brown locks strewn across his lap.

“Fuck. Everything,” Ten says after they finish the season 2 finale. “Whoever made this episode is a monster.”

Kun giggles, leaning down to wipe stray tears from Ten’s cheeks. “You knew it had to end eventually Tennie.” 

“YEAH BUT THAT WAS SO M E A N!” Ten removes his head from Kun’s lap as the older laughs harder. “It’s not funny!” The Thai man pouts, only eliciting more laughter. 

“Aw you poor thing,” Kun teases, pushing himself off the couch and holding a expectant hand out to the pouting brunette. “C’mon you big baby. Let me make you something to cheer you up.”

Never one to turn down free food, Ten trudges to the kitchen and sits down at the table while his ge gets to work. Ten watches Kun work for 15 minutes before turning to the table and placing a bowl of noodles in front of Ten. The younger looks up at the singer then, an almost indecipherable look on his face. In those few seconds of silence, Kun sees hesitation in Ten’s eyes, an uncharacteristic moment of pause. It’s like Ten wants to do something but he’s restraining himself. Then all too quickly, the look is gone. Ten thanks Kun for the meal before scarfing it down. 

Kun doesn’t bring it up then, or when he sees the same look directed at Hendery the next night while they’re playing Monopoly. He waits a week before finally confronting the boy, having seen the same hesitant gaze 5 or more times by now.

He decided to confront him after their biweekly Just Dance tournament. Kun and Ten were on a team together and kicking everyone else’s asses. After winning their 4th consecutive battle they’d hugged victoriously. When they pulled back, Ten had “the look” written all over his face. And without warning, he pecked Kun on the nose.

Oh.

Ten stood straight in horror, he didn’t even give Kun a chance to say anything before bolting out of the room. The 5 other members followed him with eyes full of worry and concern. They’re only semi-placated with Kun’s promise of “I’ll talk to him.”

Kun opened the door to Ten and Hendery’s shared room to see Ten facing the wall dejectedly, curled tightly into his blankets. The older made sure he moved softly and quietly, not wanting to spook the boy. He sat himself on the bed across from Ten’s huddled figure, not missing the other boy’s flinch. Kun lays down behind the boy, wrapping his arms around his middle.

“I’m not mad Yongqin, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Kun uses Ten’s Mandarin name, knowing the younger loves the way it rolls off his tongue. “I just want to understand, ok?” The older rubs soothing circles on Ten’s arm with his finger.

“I’m sorry,” Ten whispers, almost imperceptibly quiet. 

“Qinqin I told you there’s nothing to be s--”

“No but I am sorry,” Ten says, turning himself in Kun’s hold to face the older, but still not making eye contact. “I-I shouldn’t have done that.”

“I could tell it was bothering you.” Kun says, raising the eyebrow of the dancer.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Kun confirms. “So do you have a crush on me?”

“Not at all,” Ten says honestly. He fiddles with his fingers between their parallel chests rather than meet Kun’s gaze. “I just… hhh I don’t know how to begin to explain it.”

“Take your time.” Kun assures which Ten is exceedingly grateful for. Kun has always been patient and level-headed that way.

“It’s kinda like… you know how you hug your friends? To show them you care about them?” Kun nods easily. “Well, for me… kissing is kinda equivalent to a hug with a friend. It’s just...my way of showing affection I guess,” Kun nods again, taking in every word Ten says. “It became apparent a few months ago. But I didn’t want to bother you guys with it, so I kept quiet. And I know it’s weird and it’s really no big deal if you don’t want to I can--”

“Ten.”

“Yeah, It’s too much isn’t it? Can we just pretend this never happened? I’m really sor--”

“Ten.”

“Look Kun don’t worry about it. It’s really fine. I just want to--”

“Yongqin.”

Ten finally ceases his baseless ranting. Kun rubs up and down the boy’s upper arms.

“Ten it’s fine. I never said I disliked it. If platonic kisses are something you want… something you need,” Kun smiles lightly. “Then I don’t see a problem with that.”

This time Ten actually does look Kun in the eye, cat-like eyes wide with disbelief. “What?”

“Just explain to me what you need Yongqin,” Kun whispers understandingly, and for some reason it makes Ten blush a little. “I’m all ears.”

Ten was left completely dumbfounded. He had just proposed something… crazy.... and yet Kun isn’t running. He doesn’t seem weirded out, or scared, or disgusted. He’s still there. 

“U-um…” Ten starts. “Just… small ones, I guess. Like cheek, nose, knuckles, forehead, hair, that kind of stuff,” Kun processes all this again. “A-and pecks on the lips are nice sometimes… i-if that’s not too much.”

Kun shakes his head and smiles, “Sounds good to me!” And to punctuate it, he places a small kiss on Ten’s forehead, setting the boy’s cheeks aflame once more. 

“T-Thanks,” He says genuinely.

“Of course Tenten,” The older contemplates giving him another kiss for assurance, but he decides that he shouldn’t overwhelm Ten too much just yet. “Anything for you.”

KUNTEN PIC OF THE DAY:

I call this one: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Chapter Eighty-Four

(Gay)

If there’s one thing Wy hated about Enéas, it was his way of making him feel things. He always felt something when he wasn’t there. He had a lot of feelings about the breakup, but the main thing he felt was a sense of dread and the feeling of something being missing now. He needed Enéas back, and soon. What was he supposed to do without the other man? He was out driving around, looking for him in the closest town, knowing that he couldn’t have gone too far on the bike alone. He sighed, stopping at a flower shop. He needed to get a present, maybe Enéas would take him back.

“Hello, sir.” The lady behind the counter said.

“Hey.” He said, looking around for daffodils. They were easy to find. Wy bought a bouquet. The lady smiled at him.

“Is this for a special lady?” The woman asked as Wy handed her a crumpled up ten-dollar bill.

“No. This is for a special fella.” He said, not even thinking about it. The woman chuckled.

“Alright, sir. Have a good day now!” She said as Wy turned and left the building. He got back into the hotel and eventually, he ended up at the shittiest motel Wy had ever seen. He sighed, seeing the bike against the wall. He got out of the truck and walked inside with the flowers, and went to the front desk.

“Hey, did a big guy with a Brazilian accent come in here earlier?”

“Um… yeah. But why do you need to know?” The man behind the counter asked.

“His… mom died. And I heard he was stayin’ here so I thought I’d bring him flowers.” He explained. He felt a bit bad about lying, but at the same time, he didn’t really care. The man sighed and pointed down the hall.

“Third door on the left.” He said. Wy smiled and thanked the man, and took a deep breath as he approached the door. He knocked on it, and it took barely a second for Enéas to answer. His expression was completely shocked when he first saw Wy, but it soon contorted into seething anger. He almost slammed the door in his face, but Wy held the door open.

“Please, Enéas- just let me talk to you!” He exclaimed. “I brought flowers.” He said, holding up the bouquet. Enéas stopped and opened the door. He let him in, and sat down on the bed to hear whatever explanation Wy would give him. Wy sighed, and handed the flowers to Enéas.

“Why did you come?” Enéas asked.

“I… I wanted to come and say that I’m sorry.” Wy muttered. He sighed and sat down next to Enéas. “That I messed up with ya… and that you don’t gotta forgive me… but we can try again. If you want.”

Enéas just sat there, shocked for a moment. He looked down. “I don’t know, Wy. You’re mean. I don't know what made you so mean all of a sudden, you were so kind when we first got together.”

“... I don’t know either, Enéas. I haven’t been a good boyfriend to ya at all and I regret it. I promise that if we get back together I’ll be there. I’ll do better, I can stop smokin’ like the doctor asked…” He said, leaning on Enéas.

“You promise?”

“I do, okay? I’m lost without ya. Please, will you come back?”

Enéas hesitated. Would Wy keep this promise? He wanted to go back, but he still wasn’t completely sure if trusting Wy was the best idea. He loved Wy and wanted to trust him wholeheartedly, but… his track record wasn’t the best. Enéas lingered on it for a few more seconds, before saying:

“... okay. I’ll come back.” Wy perked up a bit, wrapping him in a hug. Enéas sighed, hugging him back, keeping him in a firm embrace. They just sat there, holding each other for a few minutes, before letting go. Wy slowly led him out of the motel, Enéas checked out, daffodils in hand. Wy loaded Enéas’ bike into the truck, and now they were really ready to go home.

“I love you,” Wy said, kissing Enéas on the cheek as he got into the car.

“I love you too,” Enéas said with a smile. Soon enough, they were home and about ready to pass out for the night. Wy talked with Cheyenne for a minute while Enéas climbed into bed and just sat there. He felt Wy’s arms wrap around him a few minutes later. A muttered ‘goodnight, I love you.’

Enéas didn’t respond. He was just laying there, not responding to anything. He felt the tears fill his eyes as he softly sobbed and cried. He wanted to go back home. At home, all he did was miss this, and now that he was here he just wanted to go back home. Manuel might be worried about him. He couldn’t call him either. He knew that his best friend would be mad if he found out he was back with Wy.

“Honey?”

He cried harder, as Wy pulled him closer. Everything was a mistake. Everything about this. He just let himself be held as he cried and cried, wanting nothing more than to be in a simpler situation. He held onto Wy, whose warm chubby body let him be comfortable. This was good. Calm down. He took a shaky deep breath and felt himself get laid back down as he and Wy finally both fell asleep.

are gay people real

in short:

South Park Elementary School Cafeteria, day. The kids are seated for lunch. At the center table are Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Token, Clyde and Craig. Cartman runs in from the hallwayCartmanFELLAS! Fellas!StanWhat?CartmanYou'll never guess what happened. Butters just beat up Scott Malkinson!KyleButters? [He and Stan look puzzled] Why?CartmanIt was crazy! Scott was just talking about how he needed to take his insulin shot, and out of nowhere Butters said he's sick of people with diabetes feeling sorry for themselves. Scott told Butters to shut up and Butters just started whaling on him!StanYou're talking about Butters.CartmanDude, I'm telling you! Butters beat the crap out of Scott, and then he locked himself in the bathroom! [The other boys get concerned and leave their tables to go to the restroom]The restroom around the corner from the cafeteria. Jimmy has joined the boys. Stan bangs on the doorStanButters?ButtersLeave me alone!StanButters, come out here.ButtersGet out of here, all of ya! [Stan turns to the other boys and shrugs]KyleButters, people can't just go around beating up people who have diabetes! Now whatever your problem is, you just-Butters[Runs out of the restroom up to Kyle and points at him] You just think you know everything, don't you Kyle?! Every little thing you gotta shoot your mouth off like you're the frickin' expert! Well you don't know everything because [walks to Stan and points him out] your best friend is a kid who thinks the entire planet revolves around him and he only cares about HIS image! [runs back inside the boys room, then turns around and runs to Cartman] You guys think Cartman is the only selfish piece of crap in this school? You're all fake and stuck up [moves over to Jimmy], and none of you have the courage to tell Jimmy that his jokes aren't funny! [moves over to Kenny] The only kid here with any sense of dignity is Kenny, and the rest of you have your heads up your butts! [Runs back into the restroom and locks himself in. The other boys are stunned and silent]CartmanWell. Apparently Kenny is Butters' best friend. You guys gonna make out, Kenny? [Kenny flashes an angry look]Butters[Runs out of the restroom again and storms up to Cartman] And that's another thing! You're always trivializing everything I say by gettin' the last word! [Cartman looks stunned]Well you're not gettin' the last word this time! [Runs back into the boys restroom and locks himself in]Cartman...Wow.Butters[Opens the door and peeks out] Double wow! [Closes the door and locks it]The principal's office, Day. Principal Victoria is talking to Butters and his parents.Principal VictoriaI'm sorry, but your son is distracting the other students and his attitude is just getting worse.StephenButters, what on earth has gotten into you?!Butters[In a gruff voice] I don't know, Dad, ah I was just pissed off, I guess!LindaDo you think this behavior is fair to your teacher and classmates?!ButtersI don't suppose it is, but I don't give a darn!StephenDo you have any idea how grounded you are about to be, mister?!ButtersWhy don't you shut up, Dad, and stick it in your ear, for cryin' out loud! [Both parents look taken aback as a moment of silence follows]Linda[looks at Stephen] Stephen, are you thinking what I'm thinking?StephenYes. Our little Butters is flowering. He has reached the age of panua.Principal VictoriaEh-excuse me?StephenPrincipal Victoria, this isn't Butters' fault.ButtersIt's not?!StephenIt has to do with... biology. [turns right and walks off a bit] You've... maybe noticed that Butters isn't... exactly like other kids.ButtersYeah?StephenYou probably think Butters seems somehow... different.Butters[normal voice] Hey yeah, all the time.StephenIt's because he is. [Turns around and faces Principal Victoria] His mother and I... his whole family were... we're not of this place.Principal VictoriaAh I'm sorry, I really don't understand.StephenPlease, just try to understand that for our people it's a very private matter. He can't be helped by your discipline; this must be dealt with by his own kind. If it's all right with you, we'd like an extended leave for our boy. Please. It's a cultural thing.The Stotch house, day. Stephen and Linda argue as Butters sits on the couchLindaI don't want him to go, Stephen, he's too young!StephenIt's our people's way, Linda, you know that better than I do!LindaThen we can go with him.StephenYou know that's not allowed!ButtersWill somebody tell me what the frickity fookshmere is goin' on?!StephenButters, you've reached the age where you must journey to your birthplace for the ceremony of hapa noa.ButtersUhbu-but I'm from here.StephenNo. We moved here just before you started pre-school. You were born in our native land, Butters. [Walks to a bookshelf and grabs a scrapbook] A distant and very secluded island world called... Hava'i.ButtersWe're from Hawaii?Stephen[Sits on the sofa next to Butters. Linda sits to his left] Only haoles pronounce it Hawaii, Butters, but those of us from Hava'i are a very special people. We have many customs and traditions to keep our culture alive. [Opens the book and points some pictures out to him] We drink chi-chi's from the coconut. We eat poke that the Safeway provides. And when we've chosen a mate, we marry at the fern grotto, as your mother and I did so... very long ago. As a Stotch, Butters, you are actually Hawaiian royalty. Your grandma and grandpa were there at the time of the King. [Flips backwards a few pages and shows him a picture of Elvis Presley playing a ukulele with a picture of Diamondhead in the background.]ButtersBut what does being Hawaiian have to do with me acting like an emo chick on her period?StephenNot an emo chick on her period, Butters. Like a salmon needing to swim back upriver. All Hawaiians feel it. It is called "hapahui apahoha", and it means it's now your time to make your trip to our island home. You must do your walkabout to your homeland, Butters. And you must do it alone. [Linda stands up and starts crying. Stephen stands up and takes out his wallet] Take this, son. It is our Mahalo Rewards card. It will provide you with all you need. And now I must turn my back on you. [He turns his back to Butters. Linda weeps silently. Butters is speechless]The neighborhood park, day. The boys from the table are playing basketball, and Jimmy joins in. Kenny tosses the basketball at Kyle, who makes a shot, and Cartman runs up to them from the sidewalk. Stan catches the ballCartmanHoly shit balls! Holy shit balls! Guess what, you guys? Holy shit balls. [The other boys gather around him]KyleWhat?CartmanButters just got on a bus with his backpack and said he's going to Hawaii.StanHawaii?CartmanHe said he had to go back to his homeland, and then told me it was none of my business and to keep my fat mouth shut.KyleDude, what the hell? Somebody's gotta stop him.Stan[Turns to the basket] After all the things he said to us, he can go ahead. [Makes a shot at close range]KyleKenny, you're clearly his best friend. Go stop him.Kenny(I'm not his best friend.)CartmanYeah, Mr. Perfect, go rescue Butters so he can lick your balls some more. [Kenny sighs and walks away with his head down.]The airport, day. Kenny arrives and walks into the Alpha Air terminal. He sees Butters seated on a seat in an empty row, with two suitcases at his feet. He's sobbing. Kenny walks overKenny(Butters, come on.)ButtersThey won't let me on the plane. Why, I can't do anything right! [Kenny takes one suitcase and Butters' right hand, Butters takes the other suitcase, and they walk. Suddenly Butters stops and pulls his hand away] No, no! I have to go to Hawaii, Kenny! I have no idea what's waiting there for me, but I guh, I can't go on like this! [Kenny sighs, then takes Butters to the teller]Kenny(Excuse me, he needs to go to Hawaii.)TellerI already told him, I can't allow anyone on the aircraft who appears to be intoxicated.ButtersI'm not intoxicated, you skank! I'm just "deligerent" because of my hapanuanalua!Kenny(Please, could you just let him on the plane? It's really important. Please?)TellerTell you what: there's plenty of points on his Mahalo Rewards card. If you wanna fly with him, I can let him go.Kenny(Me?)ButtersCan't you see I'm in horrible pain?! Do you have any idea what-?!Kenny[Puts his hand over Butters mouth to shut him up] (Okay, okay! I'll go.) [Scene cuts to the plane flying towards Hawaii]Lihu'e Airport, Kaua'i, Runway B-5. The plane lands and Butters and Kenny enter the terminal. Butters has picked up his bagsButters[Slowly, as he looks around] Well, we're here, now what do I do? [Kenny points to the information officer nearby, and they walk to him]OfficerCan I help you with anything?ButtersUh yeah, I uh, I'm not sure where I'm supposed to go?OfficerOkay, were you with a cruise ship or land tour group?ButtersOh, ah, I'm not a tourist. I'm a native Hawaiian. [The officer just looks at him. A group of Americans approaches him]Blond ManButters Stotch?ButtersYeah?Blond ManWelcome home, young keiki. Your parents said you would be coming for your ceremony. [Notices Kenny] Ah- uh, who's this?ButtersOh thi-this is my friend, Kenny.Older WomanButters, native Hawaiians don't really approve of haoles coming to their ceremonies.ButtersOh please, i-if it weren't for him I couldn't have come.Blond ManVery well, we shall speak with the chief of our island and see. Come now. [Everyone leaves]En route to the chief, day. They go down the road, all packed into an SUV.ButtersYou folks are all native Hawaiians too?Older Man[Driving] Yes. My wife Patty and I have been coming to Kaua'i for almost five years, and Bill and Donna actually own a time share in Poipu.DonnaYes, but Poipu is getting pretty overrun with tourists, I'm afraid.Blond Man[Leans to the right, behind the older man] Let us eat.Older ManOh yea, let us eat. [They stop at Kuwahara Saimin's drive-through] Aloha, five order of saimin, please.ButtersWhat's "saimin"?PattyIt's one of the foods of our people.Older ManOh, I get 20% off, I'm a native. Here's my Mahalo Rewards card. [The cashier notes the card and takes the cash, the older man takes the food, and they're off.] Mahalo. [They soon find themselves behind a slow car with the passenger taking pictures of the scenery. The older man honks.] Come on, you frickin' tourist! Jesus, buy a post card! [Stops and points out a building] These are the ancient ruins of our ancestors. [It's the Coco Palms, long abandoned.] They say the spirit of the king is still in there.Blond ManYou must stay away from this place. It is kapu.Brunet ManKapu. that means "taboo", [points to Kenny] especially to haoles! [they drive off]Older ManUh that there is Bubba's Burgers. [Scene shows Bubba's Burgers] In Havai'i us natives say "Bubba's Bruk". [they pass by a big hotel] Here's the Sheraton, just another megahotel for the throngs of tourists. Here's where many of us natives live. The Sheraton Residences. [A gated community is shown. The Older Man flashes his Mahalo Rewards card to the guard] It's all right, we're natives. [The guard opens the gate and lets them in. They arrive at the chief's residence and step out to talk to him] Protector and Chief, I present to you the keiki, Butters Stotch.ChiefAh, Stephen and Linda's child. Last time I saw you, you were the size of a coconut. Who's the haole?Kenny's room at the Residences, night. He sits by the open window with a lit candle, a pencil and a sheet of paper. He begins to write.KennyMy dearest friends,:I am living amongst the natives in the remote and tiny island of Kava'i. What can I tell you of this mysterious island and its people? It is a place of wonder, and yet to the outsider like me, a place of odd tradition. The people here are peaceful and joyous, and seem to care little for the rush and worry of the outside world. Their diet is mostly an odd mixture of coconut milk, pineapple juice, and vodka, which they call the chi-chi. As for Butters, he is quickly learning the ways of his ancestors, and seems to be feeling better with every passing day. He still seems quite angry at times, but luckily his ceremony will finally take place on the morrow.As he writes, the following scenes are shown: First, the Safeway supermarket. The people greet each other with a fist, with pinky and thumb extended. Next, three kids are playing in a pool while Donna enjoys her chi-chi and the older couple sit on chaise longues in the background. Next, Kenny is at the bar order a chi-chi. Next, Butters learns how to play bocce ball. Next, Stan reads the letter to Cartman and KyleStan[reading the letter] "On the morrow"? What the fuck is wrong with Kenny?KennyTo wit, I have found nothing wrong with this remote place, and I must admit it will be with some melancholy that I will leave this island and return home.

I saw this chick in a bikini on the beach too. She had the nicest boobs ever. Humbly yours, Kenneth.

A luau, day. All the natives are in line for lunch before the ceremony begins. Butters stands on a platform before the chief while Kenny watches onChiefIn the time-honored traditions of our ancestors, we honor the native Hawaiian Butters Stotch with his hapa noa. [everyone cheers and and woman slips a necklace onto his neck] The shark-tooth necklace represents your connection to our island. [a horn blower comes in with a conch shell and blows into it... badly] Now drink the chi-chi! [Patty walks over with a glass of it and gives it to Butters, who begins to drink it through a straw.]Butters[turns right and coughs, then] Whoa, it's like gasoline!ChiefDrink, young keiki, and you will feel the last of your aggression melt away.Butters[Finishes the rest of the drink, then stumbles just a little bit and smiles] Hey, uh now I do feel butter, uh better.ChiefO spirits of ancestors, we ask that you bless this native Hawaiian with his hapa noa! We ask that you-Blond Man[runs in] Listen! [climbs onto a table] Listen everyone! I have terrible, horrible news!ChiefDo you realize that you are interrupting a hapa noa?Blond ManI've just come from the front office! The Mahalo Rewards card is... [chokes]ChiefWhat?! What has happened? Speak!Blond ManThe Mahalo Rewards card is being eliminated! They're trying to say our points are... are... no longer going to be accepted.Chief[Rises from his chair and walks to his left] I knew one day it would come to this.PattyTo what? What does this mean?ChiefThe haoles are trying to do away with us.Resident 1With no rewards program, there will be no distinction between who's a native to this island and who isn't!Resident 2Why can't you people respect our island? Why do you always want nore?!ChiefI'm sorry keiki, your hapa noa will have to wait! For we must unite together as never before! It is time to show the haoles that this is our island! [this draws cheers from everyone]A seaside golf course, day. A cruise ship is some distance from the shore when it blows its horn. A group of natives stand by their golf ballsChief[Yelling at the ship] Stop ruining our island, haoles! FIRE! [The natives fire away into the ocean. Some of the golf balls land in the water, some of them reach the ship]First MateWhat are they doing? [The passengers are being pelted with golf balls.]Chief[Walks over to Butters and gives him a club] Take a swing! Let them know they are not welcome!ButtersI've never done this before. [Gets into position]ChiefIt's all right. Just try to tap into that anger that's inside you.ButtersAim... my anger! Stupid [Swings successfully] Ben Affleck! [The golf ball sails through the air and enters the bridge, smashing through the window and the captain's binoculars. The first mate shrieks] Waaah! [The captain stumbles onto a controller and breaks it with sheer momentum. The ship begins to pitch back and sink. Passengers begin to tumble towards the water. Butters is dumbfounded. The ship breaks in two]ManHold on! [The golf club just falls out of Butters' left hand] Hold on!WomanOh I can't! I can't! I can't hold on!ManI love you! I love you!WomanNo! I love you! I love you back! [The ship vanishes below the water]Breaking NewsAnnouncerThis is breaking news!AnchorAn insurrection in the Hawaiian Islands has escalated to war! After sinking a cruise ship, the natives of Kauai continue to go berserk, forcing all tourists off their island.Man 1They just pushed us onto airplanes and said we weren't welcome anymore!Woman 1Then a little boy called me a skank.Anchor[A picture of Barack Obama appears over his shoulder] The President says he will send the Coast Guard to take the island back, though he sympathizes, being a native Hawaiian himself. [Thinks about it for a second] Hm.The ceremonial plaza, day.ChiefAre all the tourists gone from our island?Resident 3All but a few who are hiding out at Duke's Restaurant. We sent Bob and Trisha Turner to smoke them out.Resident 4What about him?Kenny(What about me?)Resident 4He's a tourist and he knows everything! We have to kill him!Butters[Jumps in front of Kenny to shield him] No! Kenny's my friend! He's the only kid at school I actually like, you buncha jerks!ChiefBe careful young keiki, your anger still controls you because we were not able to finish the ceremony. Perhaps we should finish it now.Resident 4Finish his ceremony?! We are at war, David! I have lived on this island for ten years. Ten years! Every July and part of August! And I can tell you all that what we are about to face from the haoles is nothing short of genocide!Resident 5He's right, David. We can't trust any tourists.ButtersHe won't betray us! Will you, Kenny?!Kenny(No, I'm not going to fucking betray anybody!)Resident 6Then let him prove himself! Trial by opahika'a!Chief DavidHe's only a child!Resident 4If he wants to be one of us, then he must face the challenge!Chief DavidVery well. [The horn blower, Resident 5, returns to blow the conch shell]On the bank of a river flowing by the Residences, day. David and Butters are there with the rest of the residents in the background, and Kenny is...Blond ManThis isn't right! He's not a native! He's gonna get killed!ButtersKenny, be careful!Chief DavidQuiet. He must face this challenge alone. [Kenny is on a surfboard on the river using a small paddle to get somewhere]Resident 1By the gods! Perhaps he has the heart of a native after all!Resident 4He still has yet to make the turn! [Kenny reaches a buoy in the middle of the river and paddles around it, then makes his way back to the riverbank.]ResidentsHohhh!Resident 7[A little tipsy from his drink] That's pretty good. [Kenny slows down, then loses his balance and falls into the river]Kenny(Whoops!)ButtersKenny!ResidentsAwwwww. [A second later they all turn away and leave. Butters stays at the riverbank.]Resident 4[To another Resident] I told you a haole couldn't do it!Chief DavidDid you make the turn your first try? Did any of us? [Kenny pops up behind them and floats down the river]Resident 8[A woman, walks up to Butters] Don't worry, Butters, your friend will find a way back to his kind. The gods will protect him. [She extends her left hand and guides him away]Kenny looks downriver and sees a waterfall. He panics and quickly dog paddles away from it, but the current overwhelms him and he goes over. He bumps into several rocks, each bigger than the last, on his way down, head firstSmith's Tropical Paradise, day. David has assembled the residents into this building and now talks to themChief DavidWe have called for this great meeting because if we are to survive this war, all the native Hawaiian tribes must join as one!Resident 9We're not joining the people of the Hyatt Grand Vacations! They have no rights to call themselves natives!Vacationer 1Oh and you do?! Your ancestors came on an airplane six months ago! Our ancestors sailed here! On a cruise ship! Nine months ago!Chief DavidLook, if we are to fight the haoles, we have to allow all natives to stay!CanyonerIt doesn't matter how many tribes we have, we can't win! We are but a few against the haole's military might! We may have passion, but passion does not win wars!Chief DavidOh no? Come up here, keiki. Come on. [Butters gets on stage with David] This child sunk a cruise ship by himself! Tell them keiki. [Hands the mic to Butters]ButtersWell I don't know about the rest of ya, but I'm sick and tired of bein' pushed around all the time! I came all the way down here for my hapa noa ceremony, and I can't even have it, 'cause the fucking haoles have to ruin everything!Resident 9Yeah!Vacationer 1Screw them!ButtersWell if you ask me, the only good haole is a dead haole! With a, with a stick up his butthole, and his wiener cut off! Rraahhhh!Chief DavidLet us make a pact with more chi-chis!Resident 10[goes to serve himself some more chi-chi from the barrels, but finds there isn't any] Um, we're... we're out of chi-chis.Resident 11Oh, right, we've closed off all the ports.Resident 12But they're still letting vodka through, right? Uh... they can't cut off our chi-chis.Chief David...Oh my God.Downriver, day. Kenny crawls onto the riverbank, coughs, and looks up. He's across the road from Coco Palms. He stands up and walks towards it. He looks around and heads in, but first waits for a bunch of bats to fly out of the cavernous entrance. Meanwhile, offshore, the U.S. Coast Guard shows up in force to deal with the nativesCaptainThis is the U.S. Coast Guard! We have instructions to take you by force, if necessary!Chief David[heading up a large group of natives] Ready? Fire! [the natives fire off their golf balls, but none of them have any effect on the Coast Guard]Captain[Lowers his binoculars, then flatly] Fire. [The ships' guns fire away and decimate many of the natives]Chief DavidArm the bocce balls! [Surviving natives arm bocce balls into slingshots stretched between palm trees. One of them lands on the main ship with a heavy thud]CaptainGod damn it.Chief DavidKeep fighting! Stand your ground!Resident 4We can't fight without chi-chis!Chief DavidYou can and you MUST!Butters[He has six golf balls in front of him and he hits each one towards the Coast Guard] Stupid! Greedy! Haoles! Kill! Them! All!Kenny walks through the Coco Palms, which is dark and spooky. A voice is soon heard, and Kenny stops in his tracks. He turns and runs away, but steps onto a patch covering a hole on the floor and falls in. He recovers and looks up to see the shining ghost of Elvis Presley. He beckons Kenny to follow him, mumbling just like Kenny does.The KingCome on, come on. [Mumbles a few more things as they walk towards a door. Elvis stops and pulls a lever, and a wall rises to reveal loads of absolute vodka, pineapple juice, coconut milk, and macadamia nut liqueur, all the ingredients needed for chi-chis. Elvis walks up to the doorway and motions to Kenny] You know what chi-chis are, right?The Residences, day, on the ceremonial plaza, Chief David admits defeatChief DavidListen everyone, we gave it all we had. It's over. We must go down to Nowiliwili Harbor, and surrender to the American government.Butters[Runs onto the plaza] Surrender?! No, the heck with that!Resident 4We can't hold out here any longer!ButtersWell I won't do it, you hear me?! I'm not licking anybody's... testes!Chief DavidYoung keiki, try to control your anger.ButtersNo! This is our home! And I'm sick of everyone who thinks they're better than me just 'cause they've got good looks, and just 'cause, even after massacring Daredevil, they happen to come back and hit a home run that everyone likes! You shouldn't be able to be good-looking and be with Jennifer Lopez and be a good director! [Turns around and walks away] All right all right fine! Argo is a good movie! There, I admitted it! I told people that it didn't hold up, but it holds up god darn it! Ben Affleck has everything, GRAGH!Resident 13Everyone! Look, I say! [Everyone comes to see, and it's Kenny coming back with a raft full of absolute vodka, pineapple juice, coconut milk, and macadamia nut liqueur. Everyone cheers him on]Resident 14The haole did it!KennyMy dear friends of the mainland,:What adventures I have found on the tiny island of Kava'i. I have truly become one with the natives, who found new courage to fight their oppressors.Chief DavidWe are not surrendering today! Go back and tell your leaders that we will fight them until the end! [Everyone cheers]CaptainYou people just don't give up, do ya?KennyThe American government finally gave in to the natives and had the Mahalo Rewards cards reinstated. Our two cultures, it appears, will once again live in peace.Everyone cheers, even the Coast Guard captainKennyWith the war at an end, our Butters is able to have his hapa noa ceremony. And with any help from the gods, become his old cheery self again.The hapa noa ceremony, day. Butters will finally become a full-fledged member of his tribeChief DavidAnd so it is with great honor that we recognize these two natives with their hapa noa. Take your cards, boys. [Two women come up and give them their cards] Apuiloa hapnanoaha! Hapa'a'a hohaaa! [Resident 5 returns to blow the conch shell a third time.] It's finally over, young keiki. Is your anger at rest?Butters[He thinks for a moment] Yeah, I guess so. Except it still doesn't change the fact that Ben Affleck gets to be handsome, talented, and then gets to go home and kiss Jennifer Lopez.Resident 15Ben Affleck isn't with Jennifer Lopez anymore, he's married to Jennifer Gardner.ResidentsYeah, it's true, uh huh.ButtersWhat? Really? But I thought I was totally jealous of him. He's just married to Jennifer Gardner? Oh my God, I feel so much better. [smiles with relief]Kenny(You do?)ButtersYeah, ogh, I like that Ben Affleck guy. He's a good filmmaker. Come on, Kenny, I guess I owe the kids at school an apology. [He and Kenny walk off into the sunset] Did you see Argo, Kenny? It's a pretty good movie. Ben Affleck has a lot goin' for him. Not everything, but a lot. Whoopie!

Convivence store

PART 2!!!! WE SEE THE S5 HERE!!!!

So enjoy Aloha and Rider having a conversation fellas!

TW for mentions of ab*se

----------

Aloha was 17, now. He hadn’t fully transitioned-he still needed his bottom surgery-but he was out, and living his life as a trans man. His parents accepted him wholeheartedly. It was kinda nice knowing that.

It didn’t mean he was suddenly trauma free. There were still plenty of sleepless nights full of bad memories.

Thank god for those stores.

It was late at night. A bad night. All of Aloha’s bad memories swirled in his head and he wished he could forget it all.

So, he got out of his bed and started to head out.

The problem was, well, the S5 lived together. It was good at times-It saved money and also Aloha couldn’t cook for shit, so living with three people who could was a godsend.

Anyways, the problem was that Rider also had sleepless nights due to trauma. Aloha learned that the hard way-he got up for a glass of water and ended up binge watching The Mandalorian with Rider. Turns out they both liked the Found Family aspect of it.

The insomniac duo also tended to stay awake on the same nights. And most of those nights they would chose a comfort show and binge the episodes until they fell asleep. 

But, tonight, it would be a bit different.

Aloha got on his coat-it was a chilly night-and slipped on his shoes, walking out to the living room. Rider was there, as usual; sitting on the couch almost expectantly. “What we watching tonight?”

“...Could we actually go for a walk tonight?” Aloha asked. “Just... it’s a comfort thing.”

Rider shrugged. “Eh, why not. Got a place in mind?”

“You know that gas station? Wanna go there and grab a midnight snack?”

The dynamo user seemed to think. After all, he wasn’t wearing the stuff he normally did to hide his scar-Aloha had noticed that his friend didn’t really like his scar being seen. He didn’t know why, he thought it looked cool at least.

“.....Fine. You’re paying for your own stuff.” Rider finally answered.

Aloha rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah...Yeah I guess.”

-------

The two friends walked in silence to the station. The air was cold and crisp, and the path was lit up by streetlights. 

There was something beautiful in the bright night, Aloha decided. For one, his fear of the dark wouldn’t set in. Not like it ever sets in due to being a firefly squid, anyways. Didn’t stop it from being there.

Aloha did have to admit though, Rider’s presence did help him feel a bit safer. He supposed the fact that he looked so intimidating helped.

The two walked into the store. Almost immediately Rider grabbed a thing of BBQ corn nuts. Aloha snickered.

“Can’t have a party without them, huh?” He asked.

Rider shrugged. “I just like them better than normal ones I guess. Not everything I do is a Heathers reference.”

“...Eh, fair enough.” Aloha walked to the slushie isle, getting himself a medium cherry slushie. Cherry was always his favorite flavor. He also grabbed a chocolate bar and a pack of what he dubbed “Gay Bacon”. 

Two two checked out and headed back. Aloha sipping on his slushie and munching on the gay bacon, and Rider occasionally eating a corn nut.

“...So.” Rider began, startling Aloha-normally he’s the one starting conversations. “What’s your trauma?”

Aloha shrugged. “Dysphoria, mainly. Nothing....nothing too bad.”

“You hesitated.” Rider said. “Mate, you’re lying.”

“...Well, dysphoria and shitty parents..” The pink inkling said, truthfully. “I bounced around the foster care system for 8 years. Most of my foster parents hated me and... they basically used me for chores. If I so much as asked for basic stuff, they’d.. well, mainly yell, but a few hit me.”

Rider was speechless for a few seconds, before placing a hand on Aloha’s shoulder. “I....God, wish I had something to say here. I’ll feel shitty if I just say ‘I’m really sorry’.”

Aloha shrugged. “It’s fine. I know what you mean dude. Besides, I...I can cope. Not sure if it’s healthy, but lil stores like those kinda help.”

“That’s your method then, huh?”

“Yeah. Yours?”

“...Other than musical theater,” Rider started “Just... watching old movies tends to help. That’s why a lot of the time, the comfort shit I chose is something like Heathers or Clue. Cherry used to rent them and we’d stay up till midnight watching them on birthdays.”

“Not going to lie, that’s kinda cool.” Aloha said. “At least yours doesn’t involve eating something sugary-”

“I never said I didn’t eat sweets with it.” He said. “I have a huge stash of oreos I eat when watching movies. I just haven’t eaten them around you.”

“....Oh. Probably for the better-”

Rider nodded. “Probably..”

They two entered the house...to be greeted with a rather ticked-off looking Skull.

“Now where were you two?” He asked.

Aloha looked at Rider, who just went “Out with Army. He’ll be back in a bit.”

“Want to try that again? Army said, stepping out from his bedroom.

Oh, fuck.

Chapter 2 of “And The Leaves Would Grow Again”

Coming Through and Once Again

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26089138/chapters/64388188#workskin

“His hair is soft, like those clouds up in the sky, and his eyes reflect the illumination of a thousand fucking suns..”

If the blueprint had been a little more obscure, the sun would rise from the West and set by the East. Certainly, if life had been a little harsher, the rain would fall more often and the rooftop would have its gutters leaking water drops under the grey sky. The stooges of class 2-A wouldn’t climb up every day, their respectively vibrant personalities (and I would personally exclude one of them, looking into the definition of ‘vibrant’) and their strange ways of tricking teachers into letting the school building be used as their own little treehouse up in the clouds mash up to create what could have been the best memories of the seventeen years of life spent by Oboro Shirakumo. 

“He does look nice- I suppose.”

The boy was something of a legend between everyone that had the honour to have known him. If I had been any more poetic, I could barely attempt to describe him as “an academically flunking star in a plain of hundreds and hundreds of what could have been blackholes, fleshed out meteors and planets.”  And perhaps, the two idiots that orbited him were somewhat reflective, somewhat.. Impressionable towards their glowing peer. They would always hold up, far from anyone that strayed away from his light, far away from those who would stone the sun instead of bowing down before its heaviness. Perhaps, those two were merely his moons. Perhaps, they would be the one keeping his light alive when he wasn’t there anymore.

“Pfft- what are you on about, Yamada?”

The crow-like teenager propped himself on his elbows on the ground of his dorm room, watching his blond friend as he worded his uncertainty out with the same old, unusually theatrical meek mutter. It would never fail to bring a smile to his face, at least a crafty one as he narrowed his eyes, watching his friend rest on his side, facing away from him. Shouta had grown into this sort of cold affection as a kid, but actually practising it with his friends had rooted on him. Made him likeable among the others, and not only the ones he showed his true colours to. Lucky was he about actually having the stamina to keep up with two restless morons. Or whatever you could call them. Tactlessly, he took another swig from the beer bottle in his hand as he waited for a response, which arrived pretty quickly after his question. 

“You know- It’s pretty clear that you like him so much.”

“Of course I like him. He’s our best friend, loudmouth, you like him too.”

“No- uhm! like. Not like that.”

This made so much sense in Hizashi’s head. The way Shouta spoke about their friend, his hair and all. His stupid soft floaty hair or whatever. Oboro this, Oboro that. Something was building up inside him whenever he heard about it, but he couldn’t quite tell what it was. He liked Oboro too, very much- but it could never reach the level of Shouta’s slightly tipsy speech about him. Sure, what a beautiful fella. What a nice guy. A true delinquent hero. Hizashi was about to explode from the knot inside his stomach that kept getting tighter and tighter every second he spent with his friend now. If he didn’t have so much alcohol in his system, he would possibly crumble under the pressure of his own confusion and stress. Yet, snapping him out of his thoughts was Shouta’s delayed answer, which sounded more serious than he thought it would.

“Oboro? I mean, not really. He’s a really cool guy, but he’s not exactly my type. He’s not uh.. annoying enough.”

Annoying enough- what? My god. Suddenly, Hizashi’s stomach would drop so abruptly. What did that mean? So far, the only thing he knew about Shouta’s bedroom preference was that he was kitchenware-sexual or whatever, but the two had never really had that conversation about romance and sexuality. Hell, he didn’t even know why he had opened this type of conversation out of nowhere, and he was quite sure that Shouta felt the same way. He didn’t really know what it was that undid his limbs right now, but he laid on his back again, glaring at Shouta as he murmured. “People that are your type? Who is your type if not him? I couldn’t possibly see you going on and on about anyone else.”

“Well, I like someone else. Don’t even try to read my lips and try to understand who it is, but I could almost say that he would outdo our dear Shirakumo if he spoke a little less and smiled a little more. It’s just.. refreshing, really. Refreshing my ass- Infuriating is the word.”

That was a dear laugh, oh dear Lord. Hizashi could almost swear that this rare Shouta smile surpassed the magnificence of any of those stupid Christmas lights to hang from the gutters around December’s time, for whatever reason. He didn’t even know, you couldn’t tell him that, but his heart held this value so dearly that he wouldn’t let anyone hurt him, not today and never, ever. Everything clicked all of a sudden. The cocky, loudmouth bother could sense his own frown turning upended. As Shouta smiled, Hizashi could see a faint luminosity shine inside of Shouta’s cornea. Was it the sunlight? He reached his hand and poked his friend a few times, before the loner faked an exaggerated scowl, looking like the most dignified bastard on the goddamn planet.

The sun would never fade away. The night would arise, and the black fog of the evil would cover the face of the earth. But when the morning comes, the awakening light would be brighter than any eye had ever seen before.

October 16th, no school, work until midday. 7AM.

“Himiko Toga. The doll girl with amber eyes. Toga-chan.”

“Uhm.. Ocha-chan.”

God, it felt like forever since she felt something so profound birth inside of her. That sweet rush of shivers down her spine, that determination for absolutely nothing at all. The music inside her head, that romanticization. It had been far longer than years since Ochako had these feelings pent up inside of her. She could have sworn that she had replayed the same moments inside of her head so many times by now that she had her words memorized. She had imagined different scenarios where she’d fantasize about how it would have gone if she was a bit earlier to find her, or if she had said something slightly different. Ochako could have at least flirted with her. All she had done was to prevent her from taking over the conversation. She could have danced with her, danced on her- But who was she kidding? She had never learnt how to dance or flirt with someone, so much for all those teenage years she spent learning useless algebra. 

“What are you inside your head about, Ochako?”

When you thought about it, the girl didn’t even know her name. Ochako possibly repeated Himiko’s name about a thousand times by now, it simply rolled off the tongue. The girl’s bold behavior, her lack of recognition for danger. Or the lack of- care? A combination of a lack of care towards her high functioning recognition for danger. Something in all of that had stuck in Ochako’s mind ever since she and her friends stepped out of that god forsaken gay bar. She didn’t exactly know what it was that had captured her so easily, but there was something in her that stuck in her mind, pulling her to that bar once again. She was thinking of what all of this meant- trying to lay it off as a simple admiration. The questions she had answered back in the club by Himiko’s side could really easily answer all of these things she had begun questioning, but it would be far too easy to call it a crush. There was some flesh in there that she didn’t exactly understand, some sort of codependency. It floated somewhere in her subconscious mind that there was something off about this, but there was a driving force that kept her up to be willing to see this girl with twin buns and a taste for adrenaline.

“The girl with twin buns and a taste for adrenaline.”

“Are you listening?”

The sudden remark had disrupted Ochako’s stream, which resulted in her getting a bit rosy in the cheeks. Oh dear- was she zoned out? She was suddenly left facing two of her friends once more, sitting by the breakfast table. The concerned looks had remained the same, but they were more skeptical too this time, as if they were trying to understand what all of this talking was about. Izuku, in difference with Tenya, actually knew what she was talking about quite briefly, and that even brought an amused expression to his face. Izuku had only seen this type of senseless rambling once, and that was when she had a crush on him. When you thought about it, it was very funny that Ochako had been ranting about her crush to her crush without giving out a name, even more hilarious on the behalf of Izuku’s oblivion. Regardless- he thought that this was quite strange of her, he hadn’t seen her so worked up about anything ever since high school had ended. It was simply too nice, really. Izuku was still a bit worried that she was falling too easily for a girl that she met in a club, and club-relationships weren’t supposed to last that long by nature, but he would support her feelings as long as they lasted. They were best friends after all, it would mean that he’d be by her side for any struggle like she had been by his side for all these years during high school.

“Uh- sorry! I wasn’t, it’s really early. Could you repeat that?”

“Ah, it’s alright! Iida-kun wrote in the groupchat that the reunion could be over in our apartment, so I was asking you if you could buy Kirishima’s cake? Maybe some booze?”

“Yes- that would be alright, I’ll do that when I’m back from work?” 

Izuku readjusted on his chair before looking at Tenya, looking as puzzled as he could on why Ochako was constantly murmuring and fidgeting. It certainly wasn’t usual to Tenya, who was devoid of that sort of empathy. It made Izuku smile to himself. When Ochako left for work, Tenya and Izuku were left eating their breakfast. There wasn’t really a conversation at first, as Izuku was still thinking about what Ochako was going through. I mean, if he hadn’t known what Ochako was going through, he would also be confused by his friend’s strange antics. Questioning one’s sexuality though, that was hard. He could remember when he had figured out he was bisexual, he didn’t even feel ashamed of it. That lack of shame caused him to put himself in a situation where he’d tell everyone without any sort of caution, which everyone could expect how that ended in a slightly homophobic country like Japan. Even his classmates in 1-A were sort of shocked by the news, as they all were all work and no fun during their first year and they didn’t really have the time to question those types of things. It wasn’t like he was the only LGBTQ+ person they knew; some of the others in class 1-A were also open about what they liked, and Mirio and Tamaki, two of the most successful students of their high school were clearly something more than just friends. Their homeroom teacher and english teacher were another thing to talk about. But most of them would expect Izuku to be either more closed-off or mindless about his sexuality. He was even remotely bullied, had dick jokes from some of the upper class students, strangely even one of his own classmates that was infamous for his disrespectful comments about the girls around, but his success in his classes had him sort of invincible among the others. Slowly, his classmates had also started to come out to him and to each other and queerness was more or less accepted around in their year. It was a shock for him too that he could only figure out what Shoto felt when he was a senior, and that was when they started dating. Lost in thought, his subconscious had him calling for Tenya to ask him about something he had been wondering for some time now.

“Tenya?”

“Yes, what is it?”

Izuku arched his eyebrows a little, leaning forward and clearing his throat before gaping his lips to speak. He wanted to be sort of careful-like, knowing that Tenya wasn’t exactly good with personal questions. He didn’t have many things asked of him, especially when he was the type to keep his problems to himself in order not to be a burden to anyone else. Izuku had made the mistake of not questioning a suspiciously emotion-filled smile Tenya had given off in the past and it ended up turning into something of a self-destructive fiasco. Ever since then, Izuku had gotten to know him better, and he knew when and what was to be questioned. He planned his words in his head before he could let out the query. “So- Were you and Hatsume Mei ever an item? Did you like, date?”

“Me- her? No, not really. We barely even talked outside of our firsthand bickering, but I think she’s a nice girl. She is very smart, I admire her level of skill. She gave me a call the other day and told me that she had gotten into a prestigious engineering school though, and I couldn’t be happier for her!”

Izuku crossed his arms on the table, his facial expression turning more baffled into the conversation. “Oh, that’s.. great. But, and you don’t have to answer me if I’m going too far, I’ve never seen you date anyone. Was there a reason for that, or did you never think of dating in that school environment, or..”

Tenya fiddled with his fingers and tilted his head slightly as he thought of the answer to that question. It was true, he had never dated anyone in the school or outside. He had never thought of it either, but it wasn’t because he was so busy from school or because he wanted to keep everything to himself. “I guess I never really had what you call ‘crushes.’ I’ve never felt that kind of attraction, and I don’t think I ever will! I value my friends a lot, but romance or sexual relations are not on my watch as a person. It’s okay though, I accepted how I felt that way! It’s not like I didn’t accept it before, but- Am I overtalking?”

This was a whole new vision for Izuku. He had never seen someone with no sexuality at all before, but this didn’t change how he felt about Tenya at all. He was still the same person for him, and him fitting in that rare demographic only made him more interesting and being the highly analytical person he is, he wanted to learn more and ask more about how his life differed from the others on the sexuality spectrum. It was for another day though, Tenya had a certain limit of tolerance when it came to invasion of privacy. He decided to let lone of Tenya’s last question, but answer briefly. “So, you are aromantic asexual?”

“Upon thinking of the meaning of those words, I guess I am!”

“I am happy you told me now! I mean, it is better to know what your friends are into before setting them up with the wrong people- or in your case, setting them up with anyone.” The two laughed it off, and that sort of became the first ever casual coming out Izuku experienced, after his own. But Izuku didn’t bully him or neglect him like the treatment he received back when he was just a kid, he welcomed him with open arms. 

***

The shame-like feeling could be explained by mentioning how Kyouka had never been exactly used to getting dolled up for special events like this, for she had lots and lots of other things that caught her interest and occupied her time. Staying with people that she didn’t know half of the time, not really having a job besides the band she worked with taking stage in those newly opening indie bars around where she lived. She didn’t have an idea of a stable life, most of the time, it could be said that she lived paycheck to paycheck. College was too much work, it was also too much money. She sort of knew what she had to do, and that was enough to live with. The idea of actually studying for college without a clue of her future was somewhat more unsettling than the idea of being homeless a few days a week until her band gets their pay from one bar or another. She travelled with a former classmate by the name of Tokoyami, who also played guitar for her band. Unfortunately, he had to visit his friends back where they hustled, and he wouldn’t make it to Eijirou’s birthday reunion. Kyouka could have sworn that she wouldn’t come back to this city without him. 

Yet, here she was, looking for a last minute birthday present to spend the only money in her bank account on. She didn’t want to embarrass herself, and another thing was that she didn’t want her friend to assume that she didn’t care about him. But frankly, the only thing she could do to buy a present as expensive as the others’ would be to spend all of her food and accommodation money on this. Her only hope was that Tokoyami would have some money for the duo to live on, or they’d have to spend another week by the parkside. It was a sweet memory that they even had police called on them by the rich folks around once. It was somewhat uncomfortable to be woken up by the police pouring fountain water on you, especially for her friend, who was quite fond of his personal space. If that were to happen again, they could even have to pay fines for it. But, you know. Fuck the police.

Holy shit- She didn’t remember what Eijirou liked. That was embarrassing. Kyouka hadn’t been around her friends for so long, she only remembered so many things remotely. It wasn’t like she was thinking of that when she came to the city either, her mind was completely swamped with other things that she’d rather not disclose. Crocs? Did he like red crocs? That wasn’t a good enough present though now, was it? It could have been a good joke of a present, but not enough for an actual apprising of gratitude for his existence. Maybe if she could remember anything else..

“Jirou-san? Is that you?”

“Huh?”

The moment Kyouka turned around was when she faced an uncannily similar young woman in a red-tinted, floral sheath dress, complimenting her body perfectly. Look up. If she could stare up respectfully towards her face from her body, she’d see her hair in a tightly and neatly done ponytail, the dewy-eyed smile and the clear reddening on her cheeks. She was bashful in a way, but stood with a clear, erect posture. You could tell that she was noble from the way she had her chin up, wearing her dress with a self-assured, yet highly modest attitude. Kyouka could feel her cheeks heating up in the presence of her friend Momo, who she hadn’t seen for such a long time. This girl- uh, woman now, definitely brought a sense of grace to every room she walked in, and it was quite a mystery to Kyouka as of how she did that, but the way she presented herself would never fail to cause Kyouka’s head to spin. When she could break free from the trance could she lay a word, her hands shaking behind her back.

“Yao-momo! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I’m looking for a present, which I assume you're doing?” She slightly brought her hand to her lips as she giggled at the absurdity of the question and the nervousness that came with it, told easily by the other’s voice, but wouldn’t let her eyes part away from Kyouka after her laugh faded away. Under Momo’s glare, she almost felt like she was being held captive, like she couldn’t move.

“Y- Yes! I was looking for a present, but I’m not the best at remembering my friends’ interests, let alone actually having enough money to buy them..”

This confused Momo a little, especially because of how different she was financially. She had almost forgotten that Kyouka wasn’t as supported as she was, and that was the way it had been during their high school years. She, alongside Shoto Todoroki and Tenya Iida were the rich kids of that class, but their intentions were never to hurt anyone there, strangely enough. Shoto hated his dad and didn’t claim the money he had, and even spent his money on other classmates that were struggling financially. Tenya was extremely modest and he didn’t really care about the money he had, he would never show off with that money. His friends had the idea that he was slightly innocent, and didn’t really understand how having more money could create a class difference. Surely, he was best friends with the poorest girl in class, who he would often help when she was short of money. Their fellow comprehension and sensibility towards economic differences helped them bond between class differences, and Momo wouldn’t ask for anything else. Besides, she would rather die than be stuck with only rich people around her. Those people had her sentimental nature suffering for years on end. When her confusion disappeared, she raised her finger, responding back to her friend’s worry.

“Don’t worry, we can buy our gifts together! I tell you what- You don’t even owe me anything back, I’ll help you buy whatever you’d like!”

Kyouka felt a tiny weight in her abdomen after that offer, which she’d usually panic and reject in order not to be rude, but it was true that she really needed that money. She was frozen in confusion, and it wasn’t too soon that her face had gone entirely red. What was she supposed to say? She was only upset at herself for mentioning that she had a problem with paying for her gift. Momo though, could understand that this was stressing her out, and she ended up placing her hand on her shoulder before putting on a comforting smile and speaking up to calm her friend down. “It’s okay, we can go to a cafe afterwards and you can tell me about how you’re doing! You’re with Tokoyami, right?” 

“Yes, no! No but like- Yes, not like that.” Kyouka panicked as she tried to explain the situation, completely messing it up once again. Was the weather too hot today? Oh gosh.. She had no idea why she was so frustrated with herself, but she soon stopped herself from talking, glaring down as she thought about what she was trying to say. Did Momo always have such a nice smile- Okay, no, okay. She sighed in disappointment and fiddled with her fingers as she attempted to speak once again.

“Like, we are not dating. We don’t like each other like that. He’s like- my best friend. He is with Shoji now, so I’m single.”

Momo placed her hand on her chest as Kyouka answered properly, her eyes widened and her eyebrows heightened with shock. Was that true? Momo would expect Kyouka to have a girlfriend by now, especially being the badass she is. Kyouka was just so awesome. She could play all this music, and she was so cool in her eyes. When they were still studying, it made Momo so happy that Kyouka thought she was “super punk rock.” Kyouka was the definition of cool, and she didn’t even know about it. And the fact that there wasn’t a queue of guys and girls wanting to date her was just mind-blowing to her. She remembered that Denki had a huge crush on Kyouka when they were freshmen, it was often embarrassing for both sides because of how much he messed up trying to pursue that relationship. He was very respectful when he got rejected by her, and that sort of helped them remain close friends. They were punk buddies, they could find a Black Flag record and listen to it for hours together. He had gotten off that crush soon anyways- there was clearly something else that occupied him for the last two years. Momo would love to be as close as they were with Kyouka, but they had parted ways after high school. It seemed like the unlucky fate of everyone that found each other cool during high school but never had the courage to get closer than the “very good friends” level.

Momo was single as well, but she didn’t think that way about herself. She had gotten into that high school with word reference letters from big names, but was both astounded and defeated by the performances of the ones who had barely even gotten in. It was a huge disappointment for her, as she had the idea that she’d at least be one of the good ones. Academic success obviously wasn’t everything, but the way she was proven wrong felt like everything she thought she was good at could just be her lying to herself. That included her smarts, her ability to make friends, her appearance.. Her confidence had dropped immensely, but she was getting help for it. Her homeroom teacher had encouraged her to get help from some therapy, the school counselor and that had been going on for several years now. The cost was all on her now, which she paid by working in her parents’ company, climbing up the stairs as she learned how the business world worked. 

“I understand.. Well, boys are a headache. Do you remember Itsuka Kendou from the B class? The big sister? We are opening up a company together in a few years, and I could say that it is a feminist statement, you know? Two women up there, rivaling men.” When Momo finished her statement, she added a little wink, which made Kyouka’s heart skip a beat. She must have been doing that on purpose, knowing how many explosions she could create on her heart. Kyouka, with the heat of the moment, smiled meekly and tugged her hair behind her ear before murmuring. “Those men need a lot of work to do until they can climb high enough to be your rivals, Yao-momo..”

Momo thought that Kyouka was just so sweet. She giggled at her shyish statement, narrowing her eyes before tilting her head to the side and biting the inside of her cheek. “So! Do you want to start shopping?”

“Yes, let’s start shopping!”

*** 

Fumikage Tokoyami had been sitting in front of that flat door for approximately five minutes now. The same wooden door that was painted in a different shade of dark green every year, out of the fund shortage and the lack of a consistent officer to check on the clownery. And every single time Fumikage visited the flat, the door would reek of the paint that still wasn’t dry on the wood (out of the amateur thick layer of paint, he was assuming), and he had to cut himself short in order to remind himself not to touch the paint. He remembered so many times where he’d gotten his hand or shirt on the paint and had to strip naked the moment he went inside. Regardless of how he dealt with paint, the door’s paint was already sort of damaged. There were so many writings on it by now, it had become like a shared property between the commoners that just liked sabotaging and vandalizing, and the actual owner of the house, who wasn’t that much different from a commoner in his treatment of the house, sharing their taste of sabotaging and vandalising. The house had a general condition of a dying man’s months old hospital bed, which could sort of display a minor idea of the resident here that was being dealt with.

But the paint wasn’t the only thing that kept Fumikage from getting in, it wasn’t even close. He’d get in regardless, he could even jump in from a window if he wanted. There wasn’t that much of an intimacy problem here. The problem was a cloud of anxiety that was hovering over him for absolutely no reason right now, as if someone was holding him from doing so. It was helpless to explain without the context he had been in, but I could only foreshadow it by saying that the case was nothing less than his fear of a possibly blown-out magnificence clouding his vision. And even worse, the idea of that being disclosed was just as bad of a threat to his mind as the former. Here’s the thing: Tokoyami was broke as fuck. He had been this way for the last three years of his life, where he kept hopelessly wandering. His friends had warned him, his teachers had warned him, but being an ineffable bastard wasn’t too easy either. After so many years, he had decided that he would finally let his guard down and talk to someone about it. It was a movie tradition that one’s life would suddenly blossom after the protagonist had one old wise man talk to him about their childhood trauma. Well, Keigo Takami wasn’t an old wise man. He was a twenty-seven year old deadbeat that had lived through basically every sort of shitty situation that comes to mind, and had gained more connections than he even really wanted, to the point where his only close friends were either an entire convention of flat earthers or a criminally wanted group of first degree arsonists. But Fumikage wasn’t exactly the protagonist either. If anything, he was one of those characters that had a half-assed character arc before getting killed off in the third movie as a tearjerker. It didn’t really matter at this point if they both got what they wanted. But hey, once again, he had ended up, once again, sitting on the stairs that climbed into the house door, smoking his brains out impatiently, and slowly rocking back and forth as he tried to close his eyes, hoping that this time, it would be different, that maybe he would have more to offer than himself with his nicotine addiction and not more than an adequate amount of money for a daily meal sequence on his bank account.

“Tokoyami?”

But it just never came true.

“Kid, is that actually you? I haven’t seen you in months, my god! Could you have at least texted?”

The man standing casually in a morning robe at 12PM, a mug in his hand and a very, very comfortable smile on his face. It took a while for Fumikage to actually turn around to look at his face, especially around his eyes- yeaaah, he was higher than a kite. This man could have been the most comfortable man in the world. He wasn’t exactly living in high class luxury after all, but he wasn’t really complaining as to how his life had gotten either. Clearly, he was happy in his own bubble of weed, low rent and coffee. Red around his eye sockets, dead knuckles, his blonde hair slightly messed up from perhaps just nearly waking up? Fumikage actually felt as if he had woken him up and it was a pretty shitty thing to do- and that made his decision to visit even more regrettable. The moment he would open his mouth to say something, he’d bury himself in more and more of his shame and feel too irrelevant to lay a word. Okay- this time was all or nothing, he would talk and get his ass handed to him if he needed to.

Eventually, he decided that he’d get in without a word, his chin down, which the man examined. Fumikage was always so sad when he visited. He would pretend to be happy or whatever, but it wasn’t hard to understand that something was keeping him under the weather. This time, it was like he wasn’t even pretending. Keigo absolutely hated when he couldn’t make people happy. Especially someone as close to him as this kid was, since he would empathize with this boy a lot. He slowly managed to get out of the way for him to enter the house, closing the door behind him and speaking very quietly as the duo walked into the kitchen, both of their eyes apart from each other. 

“What’s up with you? Why are you so down again? Is it your boyfriend or?”

“No, no, Shoji and I are fine. I’m fine. Let’s just sit.”

It was hard. Talking and emoting was really hard. Fumikage was absolutely enraged at himself for the way he was with emotions, how absolutely cold hearted and unbreakable he was, but he also really wished that everything emotion related wasn’t so necessary in one’s daily life. Some weren’t built to talk, and some were built by life out of having the necessity to talk. Only if people attempted to communicate less, his life would have been a lot easier than how it was. But this was really the only reason why he was here anyways. Nevertheless, Keigo wasn’t really answering, and he wouldn’t talk until Keigo was really ready for this conversation. That could be only by relying on his own instincts. 

They sat in the kitchen together as Keigo prepared tea for the both of them, the silence louder and bitter than any word Fumikage was preparing himself to say. He could feel this lack of communication drill into his head now, as if it would have been better if he knocked it out the moment he arrived into the house. That way, it would also be easier to run away after his speech was finished. He wouldn’t face any consequences whatsoever. Dang it! He wished he could think of that the second he arrived. This didn’t last very long though, as the moment Keigo had the tea ready and served, he turned a chair away and sat backwards, directly staring into the eyes of the younger man. This was meant to explain to him that there was no way out of this. There was no way he was letting Fumikage get away with an inability to communicate his feelings.

“Spill.”

Fumikage took a deep breath, gathering his fingers together under the table. God, would this be so awkward for the other. It wouldn’t be- he knew it- but he still had this remote anxiety that this time would be different. Here goes nothing. “It’s just.. I’m so broke all the time. I’m homeless sometimes too. I can’t see my boyfriend for a half of the year because he lives in an entirely different city and I don’t even have the money to travel there. My classmates are having a reunion and with all of our money collected, Jirou and I could only have enough money to send one person there. She was willing to stay with me because ‘it would be unfair’ but I knew how much she wanted to go, I lied and told her that I had some friends to visit.”

Keigo chuckled in pity for a bit, his eyes narrowing in care as a half-smile was formed on his face following the chuckle. When Fumikage’s sudden pause ended, he sighed again and his voice got a bit more quieter, they were more like murmurs the way they had ended up. “I don’t think I have anything to give you. You took me under your wing when I first met you, and you basically raised me here and there. But I don’t think I have anything to return to you and make you all proud. Everytime I come here, I’m still broke and homeless and unhappy as fuck. Can’t even buy you weed.”

That’s the cue. “Do you think I am not proud of you the way you are? Have you even seen what I look like?” This really was a valid thing to be worried about, Keigo would also be worried about this if he was the one in Fumikage’s situation. God, he probably didn’t have the words to end his worries by whole but he supposed he could do anything in his power to reduce them to a little. He kept that compassionate smile on his face and shifted himself on his chair, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. “Of course I am not glad that you ended up so unhappy, that would be the very least of my wishes for you, but that is my only concern for you. I don’t really care if you never find a stable job or make a family. I would be happy for you, but it’s not like you are a disappointment in my eyes just because you’re lacking a few.”

Fumikage’s chin raised slightly, relieved that there wasn’t any awkwardness about him talking about how he felt. For some reason, he thought it would be weird for him to tell Keigo how he felt, as if he'd get mad or something. Logically, Keigo most likely couldn’t get angry. He just physically couldn’t, that man was the word definition of “chill” in the dictionary. But it was quite impossible to prevent yourself from feeling that anxiety when such a sensitive subject was acting up. When Fumikage looked up, his eyes had diverted directly to Keigo’s face, who still kept that gentle look on his face, which was, frankly, quite comforting for him once again. Keigo himself was also amused by this. He had no idea why the kid thought he was disappointing him. Still, he was quite happy that Fumikage had chosen to share his feelings with him, he was always happy to be a mentor figure to this kid. He knew that it was quite rare for him to talk about these things, and it made him feel special that Keigo was the one he had chosen to do this with. And still, Keigo wasn’t that successful after all, he couldn’t expect Fumikage to be much different from him. He had always supposed that success wasn’t at all important when you couldn’t fly free. Freedom was the most valuable thing life had granted to the ones who had no choice but to get back up after they had been beaten down. He felt like there was a common sort of understanding between the duo from the friendly looks exchange.

“Keep your chin up, hey. You and Jirou can stay with me as long as you want if you’re homeless again. Now, drink your tea. I’ll show you off to my friends tonight.”

Fumikage never had a family that supported him, not a biological one anyways. It was either shattered or torn apart, taken away from him in one way or the other. The plans he made were always thrown away, the opportunities he was given, he had given up on. But it didn’t have to be this way. These things, they seemed to be looking up for him. It wouldn’t always be like this, and it didn’t mean that this talk would change everything so quickly. It would go down and up, it would transition mercilessly. However, the trust in Keigo’s eyes was pointing at a light Fumikage hadn’t seen in years. The absurd, ridiculous light you could see in the silence of the eye of the hurricane. The first ever sunlight to break through before the clouds broke apart.

“Yeah, okay, alright.”

***

“Hey, Mina, could you be any slower than that ?!”

This was the last summer class 1-A would be spending together. The last one, after those three years that had built a line of bonds so special and memorable that, it almost felt like a total idiocy to let this go. You couldn’t help it, though. You couldn’t help but feel that something would be downhill from this. When all of these people had gathered up, spending time on such a summer that wasn’t anything to waste, something in Mina’s head would tell her to stop. Take a look, a mental image, and hold onto it for as long as you can. This was the last time she would see them so close. What was it after that? All of them parting ways. They’d talk about reunions but a reunion meant that crowded, yet so empty, that awkward, yet falsely hopeful room. The wish that a crowd of stale adults could go back to that idea of the teenage dream they were lucky to live through. It was looking into the eyes of your best friends but seeing nothing more than dozens of identities, struggling to crawl their way out of their anxieties. Give it a year or two, they’d be completely different people. With different friends. She could just see it.

“You guys can go, I’ll catch up!”

“Okay then!”

So, take a look, a mental image, and hold onto it for as long as you can. You couldn’t ever see this much happiness with two of your eyes ever again. Mina sighed as she looked behind her friends. A guess was a guess, but it would be fun to shove it in people’s faces if it came true. A win-win situation. Or something like that in the lowkey. There were some things she knew, though. They were clear, even if they weren’t always spoken. Momo would go off to become a businesswoman, be a badass one, if you will. Kyouka, Fumikage and Mezo would definitely all end up around the same place. Eijirou and Katsuki would move in together for sure, even though she couldn’t really tell where they’d be. Denki would try to move in with them. That was a failed attempt right there, even Denki knew that it was impossible. Izuku and Shoto, Ochako, Tenya, Tsuyu, whatever, that certainly was a group. She didn’t see herself a future. Nothing with any of them. They all had chances to grow out in little groups. She was entirely left alone after these moments she was wasting.

“Hey, Mina, I waited for you!”

Huh?

“Okay, Shitty Hair, now make a wish.”

“Wish.. hmm. I wish for a-”

“Do not fucking tell us! Do you even know how birthday wishes work?!”

The sound of nostalgic laughter had filled the room so easily, as if nothing had changed, as if it was all the same as they left it. ‘Shitty Hair,’ huh? It was weird to see that Katsuki had kept that. Shouldn’t have they gotten married by now or something? Mina didn’t know if Katsuki called his boyfriend by that name back at home, but it was certainly funny for all of these people gathered up in the kitchen of Ochako, Deku and Tenya’s flat. She actually had most of these futures correctly, in a funny manner. People always assumed that Mina was subjective as hell, but she knew her friends and she knew where things were going when they escalated. 

It would mean so much if she could have fun herself, right? Soon, the laughters would turn into conversations, the music would open up. There would be a certain number of “chug! chug! chug!”s followed by a Katsuki lecture at Eijirou about drinking safely, or actually grabbing the drink from his hand in order to maintain that drinking safely. Yet another set of “chug! chug! chug!”s, Katsuki not being able to reject any challenges and shotgunning three cans of beer to spite.. literally nobody. That man was a closeted nerd, but he couldn’t handle a dare, whether it was responsible or not. Not only that, but the wretched place added to the atmosphere. Watch it, this flat was crumbling from side to side, clearly afforded with student money. Tenya would never settle to live in a flat he bought with money he didn’t earn on his own. But it mattered to people. Houses could really change with the people in them, no matter how depressing they are. Laughter could turn a shed into a goddamn mansion, hell if this place was even better than a shed. The night has slowly spiraled away from Mina’s predictions of how it would be.  So many were still up dancing, and some had gotten squiffy and settled down a little. The balcony and there was its group of people who were wasting their lungs away. You know, she had facetimed many of these people on her own and seen them in misery, and tried to use that to justify her own fears, but it was like they had become these children again the moment they reunited. Something in her head told her to join their fun, but then something was telling her not to. As if it was just.. Disrespectful? In a way? 

This all was very fresh for the crew. They never had a reunion with drinks, as most of them were only recently legal. They wouldn’t care about what was legal if it was a bar, but actually buying drinks and walking under the influence was a new ability that they had acquired. They had an appreciation for this type of party though, the stress seemed to really go up after school had ended. Laughing at your pain was already quite common in 1-A, especially when they were still all together. They’d gather in the common area and do all of their homework. Some would even cry out of stress, especially Deku and Ochako, but it wasn’t that hard for any of them to make the others laugh. It was dark humour, but it still was, regardless, a defeated type of affection. Like a common understanding of the pain and the willingness to face it together. It was sort of nostalgic, thrilling even. When the night was about peaking, Mina found herself sitting by the door, further away from action. That never used to happen before.

“Why are you alone?”

“Hey.” Mina sort of chose to keep the question unanswered, and let the conversation go its way. She didn’t want it to lead somewhere she didn’t want it to go, and that could certainly be respected. She was sure that Katsuki would be understanding about it, as he had those moments as a kid where he’d rather be left alone. This wasn’t that sort of situation for her, but some questions weren’t meant to be answered until conversation had matured enough. Their mutual comprehension after so many years helped Mina communicate with her friends without using so many words. Katsuki nodded relatively, before sliding down and sitting on the floor with her. As soon as he was on the floor, he mimicked her, drawing his legs to his chest. Soon, Mina was handed a red cup semi full of a mystery drink, which she appreciated by shining out a half smile. She really wasn’t fooling anyone today.

“Don’t you enjoy the party?”

Huh?

“Don’t you enjoy the vacation?” Sero, no one other than Hanta Sero would actually sacrifice their fun to stay behind for the others. At least not for Mina. The signature plain smile on his face remained alongside the question he asked, not out of little to no empathy, but for a hope to actually have Mina mirror his happiness. Hanta did more for people than most people did for him, but he didn’t really care, he liked seeing a smile on people’s faces. Mina assumed that was why he was so close with Denki, he was more or less always happy. It was an angelic preference for mediation in a way. A good one, though. Certainly a very selfless one. He was clearly out of breath, as if he ran back to her, but he wasn’t really trying to hide his exhaustion. The classic old spontaneous boy. His antics made her smile a lot sometimes, especially after those little actions and details that highlighted how easy-going he was. Still, his quick question deserved an answer, and she felt like he hadn’t done all this running to be shut down and pushed away.

“No, no! Just a bit bugged that it’s almost over, you know.” Mina spoke, looking away from her friend. She didn’t want to look dependent or anything, or clingy, or whatever embarrassing feeling it was that kept her from appreciating her friends so vocally. She was almost clear that Hanta wouldn’t be the one to judge, but you couldn’t shake a fret off like that. “Don’t worry about it though, I’m probably just very anxious out of nowhere. As if we will grow apart, you know, aha.” God, this was awkward. It was somewhat true that Mina always had friends, but they would mostly be boys, both during middle and high school. But clearly, she was pretty iffy about talking to boys about feelings. Only Eijirou maybe, but that was because she had known him for the longest time. They really didn’t have anything to hide. But girls just made it easier somehow, she felt like she didn’t really have to make anyone uncomfortable when she talked to girls about her feelings. So, it was a slight surprise to see, when she had the courage to look back at him, that Hanta wasn’t uncomfortable with her sharing her feelings. She wished she knew a way to make this slide better.

“I mean, I get how you feel. But we won’t all disappear, you know? We’ll be one call away! Plus, I still don’t know what I’ll do after this break, I’m also still sort of questioning my future too..” You could see Hanta rubbing the back of his neck as he talked, quietly sharing Mina’s worry. It was sweet. He could jump from one emotion to another so quickly while still displaying a sort of big brother maturity some of his friends lacked. It was a skill or whatever. “But hey! Look at it this way. If you need someone to live or travel with until you find out what you want to do, I’m always here! I believe in us!”

“Mhm, oh yeah?” 

Mina giggled ever so briefly as she responded to his awkward enthusiasm. It was so strange, the angle they stood at. The light was coming directly behind Hanta, as if the light was outlining his figure and shining from his behind into Mina’s eyes, making it hard for her to see him too clearly. A golden hue fell upon him, his shadows lightening in her eyes. What.. was this? Her stomach sunk so far, but her limbs had become lighter than a feather for that sole instance. But the view of the sun and the boy in front was somewhat dream-like, blurry in its sharpest edges. All of the flags in her head waved white for a single second as she felt that this was a much more magnificent concept to her. She wanted to cry. She wanted to laugh, too. All of this was attacking her from such a soft, indescribable spot that was absolutely so ridiculous. She was so damn heavy, in an unease trying to keep herself up. And something inside her head was telling her that this was permanent. This was reality, more than anything she had ever felt. That sort of feeling got her to think so mindlessly that she moved a single muscle, Sero could even disperse into the afternoon sky. Mina didn’t want this over, at all. If she could take a picture with her eyes, this was where. If she could save this moment and live it again a thousand times, she would enjoy every repeat of it. The thought of an angel looked to the bare human eye not much different from what she had experienced in a matter of the passing moments. 

“Of course! I’ll always be here for you, Mina.”

Huh?

“No, no, not really. It’s fun, it’s not exactly my thing.”

“Well, it used to be.” 

He wasn’t lying at all. Mina was genuinely so adventurous back in her days, and she guessed that she could still go out there and do her old thing. It kinda fit, like puzzle pieces. If she had reformed, the puzzle wasn’t complete anymore. They could pull her out and replace her with a different puzzle piece that did fit. But then the complete picture would be incomplete. She felt like she didn’t really have an out of this specific situation. It would be best to keep her quiet once again, because there wasn’t really anything she could say to him. There wasn’t a conversation anymore either, it was just a calmer Katsuki trying to get Mina to talk to him. It was almost ironic that an ideal high school conversation was the exact opposite of what this was. She didn’t want to remember that, so she drank from the cup in her hand. God knows what she was drinking. A fun game of “make me forget.”

“Look, I’m sorry I left you here. We just couldn’t stand to be around after-”

“Please just don’t say it.”

Mina took a deep breath as she leaned her back on the wall, grounding herself for a second. This was where the mountain peaked. She had heard that when you were so far up, near the clouds even, you could hear the silence. And the silence was just so, so loud. “I will go away for a while, y’know, maybe a few months. To somewhere around the Pacific. Look for a reason to stay.”

“Well, he’d be proud of you for that.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. He’d be thrilled at the idea of me becoming a total vagabond. As if I have the money to travel all that way.” The duo shared a quick chuckle, a tint of melancholy easily picked from both of their tones. My god, was this unusual. Katsuki actually being side by side with someone to witness their suffering. Trying to help in his own little unapologetic ways, even. It was clear that he was trying to keep himself collected, but Mina would rather have him put together anyways. Katsuki unraveling wouldn’t exactly be fun to watch for anyone in this party, they all had their respective experiences with something like that, but especially about an event so outrageously horrific. It was compassionate of him, but it could be told that he was also doing it for the sake of his own mental health. But you know, coping was coping, Mina wouldn’t be the one to judge anyone’s mechanisms. After they shared that moment of silence, Katsuki rested his chin on one of his knees as a sigh escaped his lips.

“What were you two doing together anyways? Were you dating or something?”

“I, uh..” That was hard to answer. There really wasn’t a true answer to return that question, and she didn’t know if she wanted one either. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel that way, but the way she had learnt to grieve was much different from what it would be if she actually was dating him. What the hell was dating anyways? Was it always such a clear difference to a very close friendship? Maybe a certification that you could fuck one person and no other? Mina truly didn’t know, and she didn’t want to care about it. No matter what she did, everything was in the past now, and there wasn’t a way to change that. “.. don’t know, really. Maybe?”

Katsuki preferred to keep quiet at that vague answer. It was more so that he didn’t want to get on her nerves or confuse her more, as he had been a victim of her wrath a few times during high school. Let me tell you, it was very far from fun, and the ones who had been there couldn’t have agreed more. Nonetheless, Mina wasn’t exactly in the mood to unleash the monster either, but Katsuki still respected her boundaries when it came to this soft nerve of a subject. “You know, Denki’s holding on fine. He seems to have gotten over it, and Hitoshi is doing his best to take care of him.”

“Pfft- Shinsou is willing to take care of Kaminari? Wasn’t the first thing he said to us ‘I will destroy all of you if you get in my way’ or some shit like that? You type of beat?”

Oh my god, yeah- that was embarrassing. Katsuki couldn’t hold in a sly smirk at the memory, followed by Mina’s giggle at her own joke. People really changed, huh. Katsuki himself had said some pretty cringy things in the past as well, he was very well immature, but luckily: His friends could actually let some things slide and put them in their goddamn past. It was a matter of transitions from a period of time to another, and Katsuki knew that he was so ready for a change when him and his boyfriend had decided to let this trauma stay in the past. Dealing with something like this was a massive pain, more than something any of those kids could handle, but it was reality, and you couldn’t reverse realities. That was why he was internally worried about how Denki was holding up, especially during a friends reunion. He really must have missed his best friend. Seeing him good had made everyone’s hearts blossom, since all of them had that subconscious concern that he wouldn’t be able to make it. The crew still had some things left connected.

“Come on, dance with us. You’ll be in Cambodia or something the next time you facetime me, I know you want tonight to be fun.” He slowly got back on his feet, trying his best to keep his balance after that hell of a conversation. No matter how much he complained and yelled, Katsuki had the emotional range of a carrot; any conversation that included an emotion more than anger and happiness, he was allergic to. When he managed to stand up after furious attempts at squatting back up, he stuck out his hand for Mina. She needed a dance, and a drink, hopefully. They both did.

“Fine, but just one dance. Then I go back to my depression corner.”

Mina laughed, which ended up in Katsuki ruffling her hair like a little child. God, had she missed all of the crap she wouldn’t take from these people. She had missed being with her friends, and funnily enough, she was definitely the one pushing them away. It was the way she imagined her future that made her do nothing to change it. She felt absolutely so defeated all this time that she wouldn’t even see the friends that encouraged her with open arms. Her pessimism fueled action was the reason why it all came true. Mina rubbed her knuckles and strolled the corridor. She had missed the sound of her friends’ laughter. She had missed how it felt like to be around people, and she had missed not isolating herself. This moment could be somewhat of a blend of so many emotions Mina had kept inside for a matter of years, but she wouldn’t trade any of it. It was time to stop neglecting some things that should have been addressed so long ago.

“Are you two leaving already?”

“Yeah.. ‘toshi had a few drinks, we gots to go home.”

Katsuki passed Denki, with a clearly very, very drunk Hitoshi holding on to his shoulder. My god. The boy couldn’t even walk properly. What was all of this anyways? He felt like he shouldn’t have gotten so amused by this image, but he had never seen Shinsou so out of control before. It was even more hilarious that everyone that was looking forward to this meeting was expecting Denki to be the one getting shitfaced after all, not the other way round. This really wasn’t the time, but it sort of entertained Mina out of her mind to see Hitoshi collapsing with every step, so Katsuki wasn’t the one complaining. With slower music starting in the background of Tenya’s low budget apartment, he pulled his friend into a slow dance. Eijirou gave a few subtle and ironic winks at his boyfriend, and Katsuki blew yet an aggressive kiss back. Whatever therapy did to him was somewhat working on that maturity. The old Katsuki would have flipped after irony was even in his sight. Nailed it.

Mina rested her head on her friend’s chest, moving from side to side with the music as the others could be seen picking each other up to dance. Izuku and Shoto moved near the windows as Ochako swirled Tenya up towards the counters. Eijirou was tipsy as hell, dancing with the cat that he had found on the street, and brought up to the apartment to celebrate his birthday with him. Kyouka even had the courage to ask Momo for a slow dance. You could hear the red-haired birthday boy complaining about how he was having his boyfriend stolen from him. It was funny. In a way that Mina hadn’t experienced for all these years.

“Get up, ladies. Someone should dance with the lonely birthday boy!”

“Shots high for the birthday boy!”

When she turned her head to the other side, her eyes drafted out of the windows into the night sky. Not only anything, but towards that one specific star that shone so brightly. This was something she had seen before, that she said she would rather forget. The feeling of being blown away so hard that you could almost float out of your body. That gentle paralysis, as if your touch could have it disperse into a million pieces. She knew, for a second, that the star she saw wasn’t anything all that common. It outshone every light in the city before her eyes that it was the only one sharing that sky tonight. Only maybe, could it have been an angel, but Mina knew she was ready. 

Hanta Sero had died in a car crash on his way back to the apartment he shared with Mina Ashido, his girlfriend. He was only nineteen years old when he passed away. His body was buried where his best memories had been, the festival area near the U.A. high school. 

And for that split second, she could swear that he was smiling at her. She smiled back, and turned away.

***

“Hitoshi, please- We are very close. A few steps.”

“Have I ever told you about that time Eri held my hand when she got scared of the thunders? It was so cute, I was like, so cute. She- She even hugged my whole arm.”

“Yes- yes, very cute- but let’s not start crying about it-”

God fucking damn it, purple boy was inexplicably tiring. Not only was he heavy as hell, but he was also completely unable to walk, moaning out random enigmatic crap most of the times he opened his mouth, and would go on the verge of tears every time anything even slightly reminded him of Eri. This would be very funny to watch if he wasn’t the one that threw up on the subway, threw up once again on Denki’s shirt, and had him stuck in the middle of the road at 3 AM. Only if he could walk, this would most likely be much easier than the way it was right then. They weren’t that far from where they lived, but it was still taking so much time to have Hitoshi go a few steps. The boy’s knees and hands were already covered in blood from all that falling down on the concrete, and he would yelp quite loudly every time he fell down once again. Giving the next-door neighbours so much to work with in the middle of the night, and giving Denki an opportunity to practise his argument skills against angry old Japanese ladies with rolling pins that had a stand-by lecture about how the new generation was so irresponsible with their partying.

“I.. what the hell, ‘toshi?”

He was genuinely in awe of this situation. Hitoshi had never been so out of control before, especially not next to his friends. He would drink around Denki, but drinking this much, and around the 1-A crowd? That wasn’t him, now. He would always be walking on eggshells around anyone that wasn’t Denki or Izuku, as if showing any sort of emotion would kill him. This took some courage, he’d admit that, but it wasn’t exactly the time to go all out like this. He was now wondering what had happened. Hitoshi was happy earlier before going to the party, so did something happen there? I mean, he was messed up, so there absolutely was something happening. So, what now? Would he even be able to have him spill it out when he was drunk- no- that was wrong- but letting him neglect the fact that Denki was upset with him would also be wrong as hell. He didn’t know if he had to let this slide.

Walking fast, carrying his very drunk friend clung over his shoulder, he was so lost in thought and worry. How the hell were they supposed to go to college tomorrow like this? Denki was trying his best to imagine a reason to call in sick, he didn’t think his grades could handle another absent day. This wouldn’t be a reason to fail a class. When Hitoshi had finally shut up, it was easier to carry him, as he was basically focused on his half-assed walking. Everytime he fell down, he would shut up and get back up. He could be sobering up, but that didn’t make the situation better. They kept walking, and Denki kept pondering with his own tipsy brain. He had no connection going on between his thoughts, but he could still think himself into insanity if he went any further than this. He couldn’t afford another slip. For the last mile home, he held his friend over his back and made him grip onto his shoulders. This was absolutely the worst night out of his life. 

When they reached home with Hitoshi half-fainted over Denki’s back, you could sort of guess that they got pretty weird looks from those on the damn lift. Denki sort of felt like they should be asking themselves what they were using the lift for at 3 AM in the first place. It didn’t matter, though. The two never got along with their neighbours. It was either fighting or sex noises at five in the morning, and it wasn’t the best sounds to wake up to. Especially when they couldn’t sleep back, and they had to get dressed and sit awkwardly in the kitchen, listening to whatever shit that was going on upstairs. It would be cute- though. Not the “I owe them” level of cute, but it would usually have Hitoshi reddening out of embarrassment, trying to keep a straight face regardless. Denki knew that Aizawa also wasn’t exactly open with sex (Sex-Ed class was clearly such a painful time of the month for him) and it made sense why Hitoshi was similarly flustered. He didn’t know why he found it so cute. It made him smile to unfathomable senses. He felt his hands getting so warm around Hitoshi’s knees, a smile quietly placed on his face. The memories felt nice. It took him a few moments to get back to his senses, because this really wasn’t the time to be smiling, but Denki sort of managed to carry him back to the apartment door. This was a wild fucking ride, huh. He never wanted to do this again. He would do it for Hitoshi if he had to, but he was definitely hoping that this was a one time thing. The door was challenging as hell, though. He didn’t really know how to open it without letting his friend down on the floor. 

“Hitoshi, can you stand up for one single second, please?”

“Mhm..”

Denki would take that as a yes. Fair. He didn’t think much of it, there was no other way to think of this in such a situation. He let his friend on his feet again, not without gripping under his shoulders to keep him standing. With his free hand, he grabbed the keys from his pocket and inserted it into the hole, attempting to pull and turn it a few times before actually getting it to open. This was the last time Denki was taking any sort of responsibility ever again. He would never, ever think of himself as a responsible adult, this was the hardest thing he ever had to take the responsibility of. And people still thought that he could actually be reliable to take care of himself. Hitoshi was right, Denki would forget to breathe if he wasn’t there. Not only that, but he hadn’t realized that he was barely ever standing at that point. He had forgotten about the fact that he was ever the one holding him up, so that went down a little. By ‘that,’ I mean Hitoshi. Hitoshi was the one going down.

“Shit! Okay- fuck!” Denki exclaim-whispered lightly as Hitoshi tripped and took a fall right next to the doorway, which ended up in him falling back onto his knees and hands. My god, those wounds needed attending. He didn’t know how to explain it to him the next morning, but he felt like there wouldn’t really be any retaliations to “you were drunk, you fell on the concrete countless times.” There didn’t really seem to be any farther carrying business than this. Hitoshi was still conscious, a little bit sober. He still couldn’t move that well, but he could pick himself up enough to lean over to the wall behind him. Denki had already gone in to get Hitoshi a blanket and cotton to clean his wounds with. 

This was sort of nice. It felt bad to think about it, but he didn’t mind taking care of him in such times. It was usually in reverse. Especially after the whole thing with Sero, Denki had gotten drunk the night when he got the news, and a legion of times after that until his grieving was less prevalent. Hitoshi was the one helping him out during those times, when he knew that almost all of his friends were a little too depressed to talk someone out of misery. Denki recalled how bad it had gotten around the winter time especially, and genuinely appreciated how Hitoshi had been around to help him with his mood swings. He was sure that Hitoshi wouldn’t stay to listen to him rant for hours if he didn’t care. He wouldn’t sleep all that much or have nightmares, and that returned to him with his grades dropping so low, but his friend was always there to find a way to cheer him the hell up. Listen to his tantrums and all, call him out on his shit if he had to. He had no idea why everyone thought of Hitoshi as a heartless, or cold, or whatever type of person when he was much far from that. Sure, he was distant, but that had a certain limit. Like anyone else did.

“Hey- I’m back. Let’s clean up.” Denki sat down on the floor with the cotton and the antiseptic solution before gently wrapping the blanket around Hitoshi, who was semi-asleep, clearly exhausted, leaning down on the thin skin of wall behind him. He wasn’t talking, staring around, that specific expression on his face. He felt like his friend knew he fucked up pretty bad. Denki pressed his lips together, his head pillaged with sympathy, but didn’t settle to stop what he was doing. It was strange to just clean someone’s wounds. He hadn’t seen so much blood in a very long time, the last time was a tragedy. He didn’t want to think about it at all. After slowly pouring the solution onto the piece of cotton, he grabbed Hitoshi’s right hand lightly, opening up his palm with his fingers. It was.. warm. He had nice hands when they weren’t wounded. Denki didn’t know why he hadn’t noticed that earlier. He felt a heat sensation rush to his own hands as he cleaned up the cuts, with the teeny noises of pain his friend would let out regarding the antiseptic. It was a sudden urge he felt that got to him, as if he wouldn’t be able to get this close again and that he should hold onto it as much as he could. He didn’t know why this proximity was nice, but he got distracted from the idea soon enough anyways. 

Hitoshi was still staring into the room with almost empty eyes, and that was what he had picked up on after that. He knew that feeling, sort of. When you were devastated, and you drank, you had that peak moment of reaching ecstasy. A dissociated feeling, more or less, it stopped the pain by something close to a whole. The problem wouldn’t be there anymore, you’d be on cloud nine but it never lasted, because you couldn’t just disappear as a whole. You wouldn’t really want to anyways. You would eventually drop off of your peak and end up in that shitty hole you were when you started drinking. The problem would heighten again. But this time, you couldn’t move your body under the influence. You would realise how much you had fucked up in the past hours, and what you would have to pay for because of your failure self-medication on this miserable injury that would possibly destroy you if you didn’t put an end to it somehow. Everything was so painfully real again. 

Denki sighed. He wanted to know everything. After putting on the bandages around Hitoshi’s hands and knees, Denki leaned back on the wall, right next to Hitoshi. He genuinely didn’t know what to say. It was goddamn late as well- but he couldn’t give a fuck. If it meant to get him to talk, he would possibly stay up all night to do so. “Do you want to tell me how you feel, or should I get it out of you?”

Silence. Denki could predict that Hitoshi had gotten sober enough to talk without slipping back into nonsense, but kept his mouth shut about it for a while, perhaps to when he was comfortable talking about it. It was clear that he was miserable, there really had to be a reason for that. Hitoshi wasn’t the type of person to risk his life out of nowhere. The silence remained set on stone for the next few minutes like that, so much so that Denki could hear the clock ticking aggressively from the corridor’s wall, as if to lecture him about all the things that had happened that night. Goddamn, was the guilt overwhelming. It really was, he felt like this would never have happened if Denki wasn’t fucking around with the others. He should have been more careful with Hitoshi for sure. “You know when- you really want something. You really want it.. But then you know it’s so far. And then, you won’t accept that you want it.”

It was just mumbling on Hitoshi’s part, and trying to decipher this on Denki’s. What the hell could Hitoshi want? He was smart, he had friends, he had a job. Hell, he was fucking gorgeous, Denki had been saying that for years. There was nothing in Denki’s eyes that he could have been yearning for. He looked so sad.. It was hard to stand it. He suddenly could feel an inner urge to cry as well, but he tried to ignore it for the sake of keeping strong. It was clear that he was the one being held on at that moment. “And then, it just really hurts?”

Denki had this reasonable internal compulsion to stop all of this. He hated it and he couldn’t understand anything from it. Hitoshi was in pain, now too for sure, and there was nothing he could really do about it. But.. At least he was near? He wasn’t far where Denki could reach, he wasn’t dying or anything. He could suppose that going through pain was a tiny bit better than not being able to feel anything anymore. He reached his arm around his shoulder, hesitantly and gently, pulling him closer into the side hug. It was just so warm with him. So, very real. He didn’t know what it was, but there was something keeping the inside of his abdomen very, very warm. And it was even stranger, because he regretted everything building up to this moment, but he didn’t want this to end. He had so many questions to the sober Hitoshi, to fish for more hints on what the hell was going on, but these several seconds were to be spent carefully. They would never come back, and neither would the fluttering inside his stomach. 

“Well, I think you can have anything you want, ‘toshi. You’re strong like that, yeah?” Naturally, Denki didn’t get an answer. His friend had fallen asleep leaning on his shoulder. It was sort of adorable- to be fair. He slept curled up like a cat, and that wasn’t a resemblance you saw every day. He didn’t even care if he didn’t get sleep if he could witness something like this. Pfft- he had never seen that guy sleep that well. 

***

“We had the couch open for Kacchan and Eijirou-san, Tenya made all of your beds. Would you mind sleeping in Ochako’s bed for tonight?”

“I don’t mind, old memories and all.”

Izuku returned Mina’s giggle at the end of her words, slowly closing the door of the room where Tenya slept. This was just entirely new, especially with how rare nostalgic moments like these were to be seen. He was glad, though. It was a good type of change. He sort of knew how anxious Ochako was about seeing her friends all at the same time again. It was clear that Mina felt the same way about this, especially after the loss she had been through. Not only them, but he could imagine Denki or Kyouka feeling the same way. The way this situation had escalated had comforted him a little bit, he really had that fear that it would be sort of boring and no one would really end up having fun. That would ruin everyone he knew that already had horrible anxiety about this meeting. “So, we’ll take you three out for breakfast tomorrow morning. And you are leaving on Monday, yes?”

“That is about it, yes! Thanks, Deku, for everything.”

“We love having you here, it’s our pleasure.” Izuku opened the wardrobe to grab a bunch of bedcloth and hand them to Mina, before walking her over to the room where he and Ochako’s beds were. This was nice and all, you know, wistfully. He didn’t have this many quotas of freedom or ability when he was back in school’s dormitory, but it was similar to how it was in a way. They would still be helping each other with stuff like this when they were back at school. I mean, they would, but this was more.. adult. He was into it, it made him feel somewhat in control of things he was insecure about when he was younger. Subsequently, he was exposed to the sight of Ochako in her coats, walking near the front door. He could ask her for a reason about her going out at damn near 3AM, but he decided not to. She could be going out for a smoke or a brief walk. It was an exciting yet overwhelming night, it was possible that she’d feel swamped with thoughts. He went back to his regular business, all on about setting Mina off.

“Goodnight, Mina.”

“Goodnight, Deku-chan! You’re the coolest.”

And then, he undressed with the lights off, got under the sheets, and lied next to his boyfriend who was too intoxicated and tired to go back to his flat. Everything had fallen into place. It was approximately all well now. When it all wasn’t too well, there was a way out of it. Izuku knew that five seconds later, he could feel different, he could suddenly fall into that hopeless mood again. Just like all of his friends, he wasn’t invincible to sadness or hopelessness. He knew that he had people that held on to him, though, and he would rather keep his own pain on the down low to be able to help the ones that needed him. But, he would regardless appreciate this one second in which he could feed into his love of the moment. It was one of those rare moments, one might say. He was peaceful in the head. It was all quiet, finally.

This may or may not be a touchy question (I guess it depends?), but how do you deal with hate with people who don't particularly like your work or the pairings you like? Because I've seen a fair amount of people stop creating content they want to make because of the backlash or hate they get simply for shipping something, so I do wonder... How do you do it? After all these years, how are you still standing, head held up high? – Much love! <3

I suppose a huge part in that is... personality? I mean, what type of person one is. Some people are very sensitive and negativity gets to them heavily.

Which, is ironic, because I am normally that type of person. I always overthink what other people may think of me and in real life I am easily deterred.

But something about the internet changes the dynamic for me.

If it’s in person? If someone looks me in the eye and criticizes the things I like? That has me fuming. But ain’t nothing more unpersonal than getting an anon and having this round fella with the sunglasses stare at you, or having a “guest” on AO3 comment something nasty.

Because they’re cowards. And the cowardice of the other party tells me that, so a certain degree, they themselves know they’re full of shit. Because if they were confident in what they’re saying, if they knew they were right with whatever they’re claiming, there’s no need to go anon. They could tell me “to my face” - as much as the internet allows that; by being logged in and starting a dialogue.

But someone who hides behind the grey round fella with the sunglasses to tell me I’m morally wrong? Makes me  genuinely laugh. Because if I were, you had no reason to hide.

(At this point, I’d like to add, since you’re on anon too, that there’s different reasons for going on anon. Sometimes, it’s shyness. But if you think yourself morally superior to someone and want to ring the bell of shame behind them, you can’t hide behind anonymity. That’s different.)

I just really can’t take people seriously who hide in the shadows of anonymity to scream at me about how wrong I am. You’d do that with confidence if you knew you were right. But they’re wrong and full of shit. Because they are.

There is no “right” or “wrong” about taste. A ship ain’t only valid for being morally upstanding, pure, canon, whatever. And a person ain’t inherently vile for shipping something that’s unleathy, or toxic, or whatever buzzword they throw around.

Which is another part. I just... absolutely can not take anyone seriously who throws buzzwords around wildly and with no foundation, because they lack any common sense.

Yeah, they’re brothers and it’s incest, what do I care, they’re also fictional characters, I ain’t telling two real life brothers to bang and get married, what’s wrong with the people who can’t tell fiction apart from reality. That’s just pitiful.

I’ve also seen the other side of that. I’ve seen antis ship the exact thing that they’re judging, insulting and harrassing other shippers for. From incest to abuse apologism to just plain toxic canon dynamics. All the things they find a justification to harrass others about, but they ship things of that kind themselves. But their ships are ““different”“ from the ones they hate.

It all boils down to taste and it boils down to a bunch of morons who can’t grasp the concept of “taste” and the fact that... you can like something without it being pure and you can dislike something without it being every shade of morally corrupt.

They bend over backward to find justifications for why the ships they dislike are inherently bad, while they also bend over backward to justify why the exact same things they judge other ships for are actually wholesome and pure in the ships they like.

And at that point, I just genuinely feel bad for those people and am terrified for them. Because I am fully aware of what I ship. I know every deprived nook and cranny of my ships. I know the exact level of toxicity of the canon dynamics. I’m just also aware that they’re fictional characters. But the moment you start reaching to justify why abuse isn’t technically abuse, that’s when it becomes worrisome. And that’s what they do, to justify their own ships.

Now, I’m not gonna lie, this isn’t an attitude I always had and it’s not something I just woke up with one day.

I’ve been in fandom for 15 years now. I’ve seen a lot and I’ve dealt with a lot. I’ve seen when shipwars were primarily reserved to the canon straight love triangles. I’ve seen it devolve into “your ship isn’t valid the gays are getting in the way of the CANON STRAIGHTS”. I’ve seen the number of canon gays grow in media and how it affected these ship wars, invalidating ships where a canon gay ship was split up. And now this shit-show of antis.

My attitude grew out of seeing and experiencing a lot. I was lucky to be “raised” in a safe fandom environment, where the fandom olds took us youngsters under their wings and guided us, taught us how to improve our writing, helped us establish connections in a community.

And that last part, that’s important. Important in dealing with hate. Maybe the most important part, really. You have to find your community. Don’t let yourself be sucked into a circle of hate. Find the people who love the same things as you - the same show, the same characters, the same ships. Form friendships, find that community of positivity.

Fandom is what you make it. Even when other people try to make it something else, try to turn it into a hateful, gross place filled with harrassment and fear and moral policing. Regardless of how hard they try; your fandom is up to you.

Find the people who bring the positivity, who will come into your fics and leave reviews of love and positivity. And weed out the bad. Block them. Block the antis in your fandom, avoid them. Sometimes, preemtively going into an anti tag and just going on a block-spree can be really helpful already. You can block anons on tumblr too! Granted, only their ID, but at one point they’re gonna run out of devices to post anon hate from.

That much to my personal attitude toward it. Now to the act of actually dealing with it.

Many adivse, rightfully so, to ignore it. AO3 allows you to delete comments. On tumlr, you can just delete an anon and not answer it. Especially when you’re the type who is affected by it, not engaging is the best solution.

Personally, I like arguing with people. Everyone who ever talked to me might have noticed that. I live for a good argument. And I’m really bad at letting something just stand. So I usually argue back. I do that, because I am very bad at keeping my mouth shut, but also because it brings me a certain amount of glee to mock their nonsense.

I do it here. I have my “Dear Anonymous Shithead” tag where I address anon bullshit and anon hate from FFNet and AO3 - because FFNet doesn’t let you answer to anons. And then I delete the original comments on my fics, because I don’t like shitstains on my fics.

I call that approach meeting them on your own terms. Because they think they are doing something grand somehow by publicly leaving their vile comments on your fics. Delete them, take their voice away. Put it somewhere else to argue their nonsense on your own terms, mock them if you want, it’s fun. Fight your battle, the way you want to fight it - and that does include just deleting them and not engaging at all; that’s not running away, that’s self-care.

Like I said, my attitude’s not always been like that. It got me before too. Way, way back - and I really do mean way back, it’s been surely over five years ago - there was a tumblr account on here that spent an unreasonable amount of time openly hating on me. It’s the reason I avoided getting a tumblr, because back then I was not in a mental state to openly engage with such a hateful place.

And it’s still a hateful place; all those anti communities here. People proudly proclaiming they’re antis in their biography. People taking screenshots of other tumblrs or artists to mock them and make fun of them. The thing that changed isn’t tumblr, it’s me. I waited to engage with this place until I was ready to engage with it. I got my tumblr account when I already had the attitude of scoffing at anon hate.

I do think that only getting actively involved in a website when you are ready for it is another important part. The thing you mention in your ask, the people who stopped creating because of anon hate. It breaks my heart, it absolutely does, and I hate losing creators to it, but I do think that if those creators made that judgment call for themselves and their own mental health because they knew they couldn’t handle the harrassment, then they did the right thing. Even if they themselves may hate it, because they want to create. But sometimes, taking a step back is the right thing to do. I do hope that they will find it in themselves to overcome this and come back stronger, but constant harrassment and bullying can have severe consequences on a person and removing yourself from that kind of environment can sometimes be a last resort that needs to be taken.

I’ll also admit that I’ve been calculating what fandom to interact with to what degree ever since I got a tumblr account and started to see just how deep the hatred goes. Some things I might have created for, but I saw just how nasty the antis in the fandom were and... it wasn’t worth the fight for me.

Percy Jackson and Shadowhunters are my loves. My ride-or-die fandoms. I can, and will, fight for them. No one will chase me out of these fandoms, regardless of what kinds of insults and bullshit they throw at me. I’ve been here years longer than most of these newbie antis and I will be here long after they moved on to other things.

New things that I don’t have attachment to, I will weight if my level of interest in the thing will be worth engaging with the fandom nonsense with. Sometimes, it’s not, sometimes I make the judgment call for myself to step a way from a thing.

I admit, that happend with Teen Wolf too. Back when I did my last rewatch and enthusiastically engaged with it on here on tumblr, live posting about my rewatch and it... showed me startling, ugly sides of this fandom that I hadn’t known before, back when all my engagement had been to read fics and to write that one fic I had. That rewatch could have dragged me back into the deep end - but the brand of hate I encountered here... genuinely got to me. It really messed with my head, a lot, I’ve never been threatened before, I’ve never been insulted and constantly harrassed to such a degree. It was the first time I ever turned off anon on here, it put me into a sense of dread for just coming online for a while. I didn’t expect that, neither that it’d happen nor the extend of it or that it’d get to me like this. I still love Sterek to bits and pieces, it’ll be one of those ships I will always be attached to, but that experience with the bad side of the fandom made me recoil from getting involved with Teen Wolf again.

But in the Percy Jackson fandom? I’ve stood here for ten years now. I’ve gotten shit thrown at me about pretty much anything. I’ve also created over five hundred works for this fandom. I have received love and excitement in comments. I have received fanarts. I have received fanfiction to my fics. I’ve gotten fics dedicated to me by people who liked my work and wanted to write something nice for me. I’ve met one of my best friends and I’ve met my girlfriend in this fandom. Sure, I’ve been called names and been mocked, but I also know what I have.

I know I’m a damn good writer. I may not have much self-esteem, but what little self-esteem I have is located here, in the very thing they think they can attack. The thing is, I have no insecurities in this. This is the one area where you can’t attack me. And on top of that, I have that community of amazing people who love the same things as I do. I have the support, the friends, the shared hype. What do I care about some pitiful little fool hiding behind anonymity to whine about how wrong and gross I am? Their opinion weights nothing compared to that of the people who leave me anon love, who leave me squealy and excited comments.

To sum it all up:

Someone who has to hide behind anonymity is aware they don’t have the moral high ground.

Their definition of the “moral high ground” is so pitiful that it makes me feel bad for them.

I know the difference between fiction and reality and I pity the fools who don’t.

Find a positive fandom space for yourself and claim it.

Either delete anon hate, or meet it on your own terms.

Sometimes, I don’t. Sometimes, I lose and the hate does get to me.

You need to make the judgment call for yourself, if you can mentally handle a situation or not, and do what is best for you.

Seven Deadly Sons Chp. 1

Welcome all who enter these halls! A new year brings new changes and with new changes comes new people. We are excited to announce an exchange program! Demons, Angels and Huma-

"Oh, fuck off."

Throwing his textbook at the speaker, Seonghwa growled at the news. Six other bodies joined him in their secret room, a small lounge for them to sit and gossip about the student body, which happens to be growing this year.

"Humans," Yeosang took a sip of wine from his chalice, "how pathetic. At least Angels have abilities to make them worthy."

"Humans can be useful, little brother," Yuta patted Yeosang's shoulder, walking past him to pick up Seonghwa's book, "they make great fucktoys."

"Well, from what I've been told, there's one girl who's coming from Earth that Diavolo wants us to keep our eyes on, make sure no ones fucks with her," Bang Chan jumped over the couch, landing on the middle cushion and reaching for the remote to turn on the TV.

Appearing on the screen was a girl in a mid-thigh pastel purple dress, holding her cross-body bag walking with Diavolo.

"From my research, her name is Y/N," Shinwon sat up, his laptop on his chest, his finger flicking the mouse wheel, "according to this page, she doesn't really have a social media presence, only really having an Instagram full of aesthetic shots, either taken herself or from Pinterest."

"And why do we care?" Seonghwa yanked Shinwon's laptop, folding it over and reading the page himself, "Oh, lookie here. Looks like she's going to be our new plaything, fellas!"

"Diavolo is trusting us with the human?! That's rich," licking his lips, Yuta zoomed in on Y/N, her skirt flowing in the wind, "come on, upskirt shot."

"Enough, Yuta," Kun grabbed the remote from the older male, shutting the TV off and pointing at the door, "We're supposed to go meet the new people, including the new girl. Get up, get dressed and look presentable."

A groan from behind the couch startled everyone. Kun throws a energy drink to a hand that launched up behind the furniture.

"That includes you, Shinwon."

》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《

"This is the quad!"

Diavolo gestured around the octagonal space, lush plants growing on one side with a stunning waterfall and on the other, a small volcano warms the surrounding area.

"This is where you'll be able to hang out before, after and during the class day. Now, those who are underage will be on a curfew of 9pm, while those are older are allowed out until the gates close," Diavolo conjured up a projection of the front gates, the ominous feeling leaking through, "The gates close at 2am every night. If you're outside, Thornwood is not responsible for any injuries, deaths or other occurrences that may happen!"

Y/N zoned out, sitting by the small pond as she looked around. A fire demon set up a blanket by the volcano, sunbathing by the blanket. Her eyes scanned over the seven boys who appeared next to the headmaster, not stopping as she followed a butterfly that flew by her. The beautiful creature caught Y/N's eyes, the tour group leaving the quad just as Y/N noti-

Thud!

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." Y/N recovered, jerking forward to avoid falling on the ball of whatever.

"Don't be," The lumpy blanket begun to speak, moving with a sloth-like pace, a head of orange-tinted hair popping out, "My fault for plopping on the ground really."

Fully exposed, the tall boy made Y/N feel small, clutching her notebook to her chest as she struggled to find the right words. Anyone could tell hs was exhausted, dark circles under his eyes in need for concealer, caffeine or something to wake him up.

"Again, I am so fu-"

"Shinwon! What are you doing to the new meat?" Seonghwa and Yuta were walking towards the newly named demon, the former dressed in a blood red button down and black skinny jeans while the latter was dresed in a loose white shirt with khakis that had been torn in suggestive spots, "At least wait a week, let her get used to the place."

"That's never fun, Mars," Yuta circled Y/N, smiling and seemingly examining her, his fingertips barely touching her waist, "might as well give her a proper introduction to Thornwood."

"A proper introduction," Yuta jumped away from Y/N at the voice of Diavolo, the three boys bowing to the ground like servants in a palace, "does not include the violation of a human with your penis, Yuta."

"Sorry, Diavolo," Yuta bows his head in the one time he willingly shows any shame.

"You three, go study. Let the new exchange students explore in peace," Diavolo gently nudged Y/N past the boys, his smirk beaming as she left the quad.

"Dia-"

"Not now, Seonghwa," putting up a hand, Diavolo silenced the younger boy, "you and the other six will be requested for a mission. 7pm. It's very important, don't be late."

With that, Diavolo vanished, Yuta, Seonghwa and Shinwon coughing at the dust cloud. Shinwon patted Yuta's back while posing a question to Seonghwa.

"Should we tell the others?"

"They already know what to do."

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Walking with her map in hand, Y/N strolled past door by door, the corridors ornately designed, purple walls with gold trim and artifacts from all around the world through the history of time.

Stopping in front of a mirror, Y/N traced the designs. The swirls under her fingers telling a story of years past and the millions of those who have walked the campus grounds. This mirror has seen millenniums of history, millions of faces, no cracks and the gold still shining as if it were brand new.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Y/N saw a boy in the mirror, his hair dirty blonde and a little bit past his ears. His outfit seemed too formal for campus life, a deep purple velvet jacket with gold designs, not unlike the hall with matching pants. Y/N found herself staring at his reflection, his face was softly sharpened and his cat-like eyes pierced through her.

"The mirror, I mean," he fixed his hair, leaning into Y/N, his breath against her ear, "but the two standing in front of it aren't that bad either."

"Uh-"

"Don't worry, I already know your name, you've met my brothers," the boy bowed, presenting his hand to Y/N who hesitantly took it, "you're Y/N, our new exchange student."

"And you are?" Y/N broke the gaze, shaking her head and letting go of the foreign hand she held, the demon rising from his bow.

"Yeosang, it's a very nice pleasure for us to meet. I'm sure maybe we can get together," Yeosang had a condescending tone in his voice, sliding Y/N's notebook out of her hands and flipping through the blank pages, "bask in my glory a little bit."

"I don't think that's how it works," feeling offended, Y/N took her notebook back, walking away before slamming into a body, money and chocolate syrup flying everywhere.

"Kun!"

"Chan!"

"Dumbasses!"

Two boys were on the floor, a third filming as Yeosang pulled Y/N to his chest, the chocolate syrup and money narrowly missing her. The mess in the hallway was ignored by those who were saw this as an everyday occurrence, one girl even throwing a towel to who Y/N can only assume is Chan and Kun. Blowing a kiss at Y/N, Yeosang let her go, stumbling over Kun and into the arms of the one filming.

"Yeosang! What the fuck? I could've had the best shot for my new DemonTube video!" The admittedly whiny voice demon pushes Y/N, Chan and Kun standing up and catching her just as she fell chest first, her outfit ruined.

"Joshua!" Yeosang clinched his teeth together, vividly gesturing to Y/N, "he-say s-iay he-tay ew-nay irl-gay."

"What the fuck are you saying?" Joshua's anger was palpable, his face a bright tomato red as he slammed the camcorder shut, "I don't care who this girl is, she ruin-"

"Dude," as they were getting up, Chan was fascinated by Y/N while Kun covered Joshua's mouth, chocolate smeared on his face, both of their eyes widened, "Exchange program, Diavolo, human?"

"Oh?" Looking Y/N up and down, Joshua shrugged, his discontent apparent as he stole the towel Chan was using to wipe himself down, "Demons are cuter."

"You assholes know how to make a guest feel fantastic on her firsr day," Y/N brushed past the four, aggressively bumping her shoulder into Joshua's.

"What is her problem?"

"I don't know, Joshua, maybe you just made her feel like crap for no reason."

"Rule number one of girls, Kunnie," swiping a stroke of chocolate off of Kun's cheek, Joshua licked his finger cleaned, "Make a girl yours by making her believe she's not. What's up with Chan?"

Chan had ran away before hearing Joshua's question, catching up to Y/N as her stomps could be heard echoing.

"Wait! At least let me buy you a new outfit," Chan grabbed onto Y/N's shoulder, the girl immediately turning around to land a sharp slap on his cheek.

"I don't know how the hell you creatures treat people down here in where the fuck this is," Y/N was almost on the edge of tears, her notebook, dress and cardigan covered in chocolate and coins, her map on the floor as Chan reached for it.

"I'm sorry that this is your first impression, please let me tak-"

Plucking some coins off of her dress, Y/N threw them at Chan, frustratingly ripping her map out of his hands.

"At least let me show you your dorm please."

Chan took Y/N's map and her hand, Y/N looking at it like it was infested, the same sticky substance coating him. Chanting something in a language Y/N has never heard, Chan magically transported them to a large opaque glass door.

"I know this wasn't a good day, but welcome to Thornwood. I'm Chan, but you can call me Chris if that's better."

"Chan's fine."

Happy with a response that wasn't shouting, he knocked at the door, looking at Y/N with a sympathetic look. Sprinkling something over the human, the chocolate stains and mess that was created suddenly vanished just as the door opened. Standing in the doorway, 7 girls peeked their heads out, groans and gasps aplently.

"You must be Y/N!" The girl looked over to Chan, her face dropping into a grimace, "he hasn't done anything to you, has he?"

"Thanks for thinking highly of me, Joy. I actually am the reason she's not dead yet," Chan gestured Y/N in, handing back her map and bowing, "Y/N, if you need me, it seems like I'll be in your classes. Don't be afraid to ask."

Slamming the door after Y/N was safe in the living area, Chan backed into the wall across from the door, sliding down the wall in frustration before Diavolo appeared before him.

"My office. Now."

In the girls' dorm, all of the others looked at Y/N like a rare specimen, one girl go as far to tug and pull at her arms like she was a rag doll.

"Sunny, I think something's off, I thought humans were to be cheerful."

"Jesus, Chaeyoung, be a little nice," Sunny conjured up a cup of tea for the new girl, Y/N reaching for it almost instantly, "She was with Bang Chan, you know what that means?"

At the sound of his name, Y/N busted into tears, falling into the arms of the long black haired girl next to her. The six other girls knew what happened, each of them grabbing a stereotypical sleepover food before the girl who Y/N could assume was named Joy patted her head, a gentle smile on her face.

"It's okay. No one has a good experience with the seven deadly sons."

Fellas, is it Gay to Fall in Love with a Spider?

—  this was so fun to write and let me tell you ! i’m in luv with this concept. also this one is WAYYY longer then my usual stories so grab your popcorn! i wanted to do it right and not force or push the relationship :) this is going to be my pride gift! since it’s so long and i’m sososo close to 200 followers so please enjoy <33

words: 4,783

☆彡 where a spiderkook comes flying through your window during a robbery chase.

Jungkook loves his role as Spider-man, he loves saving things from the world to his local neighborhood. Sometimes he would save a cute guy here and there or a friendly cat. Flying through the air when all of his community knows him very well. Of course they hadn’t known his real identity wanting to keep that a secret. He could only imagine the reaction of all his friends that he’s known for years.

So when one night a chase turned extreme very quickly, Jungkook was on the case seeing the burglar steal a handful of the local bank’s money. Jungkook being there before any of the police force wanting to take things into his own hands. The sharp turns, the fast dodges so he doesn’t hit city buildings. This guy was an expert because he knew every pathway for Jungkook to almost lose him.

There was a sudden turn where he was face front in a bright advisement billboard causing Jungkook to turn his body to a nearby window so he wouldn’t smash right into the wall. Jungkook smashed through the window seeing a male sleeping soundly till he awoke rapidly.

“Holy shit!” You screamed out as you saw a male with a spider suit groaning in pain seeing the he literally went through your window. You heard the shattered glass when he stood up looking out the broken window seeing the robber got away.

“What? What are you doing? My window!” You whined when you got up turning on the light of your room, thank god you lived alone or explaining this to anyone would be a nightmare.

“Well, I shoot webs here and there you know.” The male says with a rather cocky attitude seeing you grab a broom near the door of your bedroom.

“Well you kinda shot a web into my house.” You pointed at the residue of a web on your very favorite poster of the band you’ve been obsessed with. You turned your head towards the clock to see the time was almost 12am.

“Don’t you sleep? It’s 12am. Why are you rolling through windows?” Jungkook heard the male say swiping the glass, you got near his foot pushing the broom to signal him to move his feet so you can get all the glas. Jungkook was literally so confused, did you pay no mind that he literally could fly through your window? Or did you not notice that he was Spider-man in the first place?

“Okay, I hope this doesn’t seem egotistical but you know i’m Spider-man right? Saved the planet?”

“Hi spider-man that saved the planet. I’m y/n now go fix my window!”

“Okay I will come back later but right now I have to go.” Jungkook tried to say when he moved even a muscle caused him to wince at the pain of some open cuts. You took his arm and gave him support so he could get to your bed.

“No. You’re bleeding, luckily no glass got stuck in your skin but it’s better to stay here.”

“But I have to go, plus I just can’t reveal my identity.”

“Well Spider-man you can keep your mask on, just let me help your wounds. Let the cops take care of whatever chase you’re in.” You covered your windows by the curtains you had hoping that the male could relax about his identity. The male requested he went to the bathroom to change, of course you providing clothes for him.

Jungkook walked in the bathroom and the first thing that came to mind was “I’m so fucked.” Why did he need to chase after that one robber, why did he jump through a window, or why is this (cute) guy helping him? Jungkook looked at his reflection of the so called cuts and wow there was a lot of them he was surprised that he hasn’t dropped dead yet. Jungkook took off his spider suit leaving just the mask which looked so ridiculous that he couldn’t help but giggle in the bathroom but it hurt like a bitch so that ended quickly.

“Are you okay in there?” Jungkook heard the muffled question by the door yelling back an ok before once again looking in the mirror once again.

Jungkook opened the restroom door to see you already with an air mattress near your bed. Jungkook raised an eyebrow seeing he never intended on staying the night at so called... just now realizing that he hasn’t learned your name or he just forgot.

“What’s your name?” The male asked when you set a pillow on his air mattress. You looked up to see a well fit male that was like eye candy but you quickly snapped out of it so you could answer his question.

“Y/N, I said it before but I was in a fit of rage so it’s nice to not want to kill you.” You smiled when the male sat down next to you. You grabbed the very home-made med kit that you had for god knows how long but you made sure it was sterile. You don’t want to be known for the person that literally killed spider-man. You started with the smaller cuts some needing band aids while others needed bandages.

“Question though.”

“Shoot it.”

“Do you always jump through people’s windows?” The question has Jungkook snickering flicking your forehead in response, telling you the story from the beginning of how he ended up sitting next to you. Even if he did sleep over, he was spider-man! He’s dealt with the worst people so if you did try anything he doubts it will be tough situation. Maybe that was just an excuse to stay next to you while your warm hands touch his rather cold body. That made his face heat up but thank god you couldn’t see it or the way his ears are probably the most vibrate red in the entire world. Weakness: cute guys... truly the worst.

When the fix was done you sighed seeing the great job you did but you clicked your tongue when you saw one of them were already falling off. You went back to work while this probably will kill Jungkook, he was ticklish and throughout all of this he’s been dying to not laugh.

“Well you should be done. There’s your bed, don’t mind if it gets cold doesn’t usually get that cold in here.” Once again you hinted at the broken window, Jungkook couldn’t help but giggle a little. You laid back on your bed rolling your body away from spider-man.

“Wow he acts like I’m just a friend sleeping over.” Jungkook thought while turning his body towards you, seeing the back of your head. God this mask was suffocating though, he never realized that in battle but holy shit when you got nothing to think but about this mask.

“Do you think, you could just not turn around because I’m going to die from this mask before I die from bleeding.” Jungkook asked seeing you slowly turn to see him. You nodded having sleep in your mind rather then the superhero’s face. Jungkook took off the mask breathing in deep breaths ruffling his soft brown hair. He liked it longer, loved his natural curls.

“Hey I’m a cute boy you’re a cute boy. I have a great personality, you do too. Let’s be soulmates.” Jungkook thought once again before covering himself with more blankets feeling the chilling breeze. Jungkook yawned before resting his eyes.

You woke up rubbing your eyes, you felt something missing or someone. You looked down to see the spider kid not even there. You grumbled that he just left! You looked through the broken window trying to not get pricked by the sharp edges. Looking at the air mattress with a note on the pillow.

“Well there goes him.” You mumble under your breath as you got to cleaning the sleepover if you could call it that.

Jungkook went home, seeing that the apartment was empty so he had the opportunity to quickly change out his spider suit and giving him the well needed shower. The water on his wounds stung for a bit but he felt clean and he can finally go out to eat.

“Jungkook where were you last night?” Jungkook heard his friend that he’s been living with for years. Jungkook quickly tried to come up with an excuse as the silence was more noticeable the longer he took.

“Just slept over at my.. boyfriends house.” Oh god the regret he witnessed when Namjoon gasped loudly. Jungkook did not indeed have a boyfriend neither a brain apparently. That excuse will have to do till Namjoon forgets about it but till then he’s gotta make up a fake person or he could use you but he literally doesn’t know anything besides your name.

Jungkook got out of the shower, seeing his well missed bedroom with posters and clothes that still need to be washed. Jungkook patched himself up but while doing it he couldn’t help but miss your warm hands.

The real question was how was he suppose to help you fix your window? I mean he can’t just walk in and be like “Hey i’m the guy that like broke your window but I’m not spider-man. I’m just a guy you know? That noticed your window was broken because I’m a nice-” Now he was just rambling to himself, he wanted to see you again somehow or someway. Maybe there was another way, maybe he had to take things in his own spider hands.

Jungkook put on his suit sneaking off in the back of his bedroom window webbing across the city trying to look for that particular billboard. Jungkook found it seeing the large women with cat food in her hand while the cat literally looks like they want to destroy her. Jungkook looked inside your window seeing that you weren’t home and no lights were on.

“This can’t be a good idea, crime is never a good idea but is it crime if it’s helping? Maybe he’ll tase me and reveal my identity and send me to become the next cat food model with a cat that wants to murder me, but I won’t be the model I’ll be the cat food they will call it spidermeow.”

You walked in from the longest day of your life, time moved like a snail and you rather spend your time in your cozy bed than anywhere else right now. Playing your favorite music through your earbuds before taking them off when you entered your room. You saw your window was finally repaired with a little note stuck on with tape.

You took off the note seeing the window was actually repaired quite nicely. You knocked on the glass making sure it has the strength to stay in place. Seeing a large box of which probably where the glass was shipped in, you turned it around seeing a name and an address.

Order from: Jungkook Jeon

Ship to: Game Apartments Apt 304

Shipper’s Address: Seaside Apartments Apt 203

“Jeon Jungkook!” Jungkook heard a yell from Namjoon, groggy from taking a nap not so long ago. Jungkook opened the door wearing his slippers before seeing Namjoon in the door way. Jungkook ruffles his hair before taking the door.

“What can I help you wi-” Jungkook widens his eyes recognizing your face instantly. Jungkook cleared his throat trying to act back to normal. Not wanting to break his persona of just a normal guy.

“I think we should talk window breaker.” You grinned with the address and name sticker held up in the air.

Jungkook quickly let you inside pushing you towards his room before Namjoon could ask what was going on. Jungkook slammed the door looking back at you resting on his bed.

“So you’re spider-man?” You got up seeing his face up close and personal. Jungkook gulped stepping away from you to hide his anxious behavior.

“Me? Spider-man psh! That’s- absurd!” jungkook could feel the sweat roll down his forehead to his cheeks.

“Jungkook you don’t have to lie. Plus you wanted to meet!” You cross your hands almost like trapping Jungkook from any possibility of breaking free from this one.

“Yeah but not revealed.” Jungkook ran his hand through his hair, sighing that Mr. Park was going to kill him later about someone finding out his identity.

“I won’t share it. Call it a solid for fixing my window.” You smiled seeing Jungkook blush from seeing your cute smile.

“You also look a lot better then I imagined.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“So is that all? I know your identity and the world seems to not be exploding.” You looked out his window trying to prove the point that the world will keep spinning if you knew his name or not.

“Well once you start sharing it I’m sure the world will explode pretty soon.”

“Well I’ll just hang out with you till I gain your trust. So if I start sharing you can catch me anytime.” You declared a deal with him seeing his reaction of being uncertain that this plan will go as smoothly as you want.

“I wish I was cat food instead.” Jungkook mumbled under his breath, having to deal with this and try to explain this to Mr. Park was going to be the death of him.

“You want to get some coffee? Catch breakfast?” You asked trying to give Jungkook a chance to let loose and not think about his spider side every two seconds.

“It’s 2pm.”

“Well, what about brunch then?” You shrug your shoulders trying to meet in the middle with Jungkook.

“Fine. Let’s go.” Jungkook gestures you to leave his room, following you right behind.

“We will be back Namjoon.” Jungkook waves at Namjoon closing the door leading you to go down the stairs the thick air of awkward silence. You expected him to be louder and more out going like when he was in his spider suit.

“So.” You said in between your sips of your beverage, Jungkook holding his banana smoothie in his hand. Jungkook turns his head towards you away from the window he was just staring out of.

“So?” Jungkook raises his eyebrow, wondering when you were just gonna leave him alone so he could just handle the issue of his identity.

“You get mean when you’re Jungkook.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well when your spider-man, you’re kind and you fix windows. When you’re Jungkook you seem annoyed to be with me. I feel like you’re not even giving me a chance.” You sigh sinking in your seat, deciding if there was a way to remove your memory from that night you would take it in an instant at this point the chances of you becoming Jungkook’s friend is as equal as the planet exploding due to an alien invasion.

“It’s just- My friends don’t know, Namjoon doesn’t. I’ve been friends with them for years and they still don’t know. I wasn’t ready for someone to know.”

“And I was hoping that somehow we could meet again but as Jungkook and somehow we could be friends since you’re really sweet. If we are friends and people know who I am. You could get in so much trouble and risk to your own life just because I didn’t remember to take off the stupid sticker with my name in big bold letters.” Jungkook takes a deep breath trying to calm himself down seeing your reaction of silence. It wasn’t that you didn’t know what to say, you were figuring out when you should say things.

“Sorry I know I talk a lot.”

“No! It’s okay. I thought going to your house it would be all fun and games but now I know it’s more than that. I was ignorant for thinking it wasn’t a big deal.” You said drinking your last sip of your beverage. Setting it down leaning on the table wanting to show compassion towards Jungkook by body language.

“Thanks. I’m glad we had this talk and I could give you another chance.” Jungkook smiles showing his bunny teeth, you couldn’t help but smile back it was addicting.

“Well it’s fairly early but do you want to have a sleepover? This time I won’t be smashing into anyone’s windows.” Jungkook suggests seeing it was a Friday afternoon. You two being in the large city where snacks and arcades were less then a mile away.

“Yeah I would like that.” You both got up from the booth, setting down a 5 dollar bill in tips. Jungkook basically dragged you out of there.

Jungkook breathes in the city air of the very polluted atmosphere. You trying to guess where Jungkook could possibly take you. Jungkook standing proudly holding his backpack around his arm.

“So our first stop is...”

“Donut shop?”

“Nope.”

“Gas station?”

“We are in the city Y/N.”

“Park?”

“Okay, note taken you're not good at guessing games- Our first stop is the bookstore.”

“Oh and you call my options ridiculous!” You shoving Jungkook playfully when he laughs, Jungkook pulled his wallet from his backpack showing that he just got paid.

“Come on! Read one comic with me!” Jungkook teases you, watching you grumble under your breath.

“Just one?”

“Please!”

“Fine.”

The bookstore was filled with the smell of new books. The pleasant scent with the look of smiling Jungkook. He wore a nicely light pink open button up shirt with a white undershirt. The fluffly brown hair that you remembered from the night he slept over, when in the middle of the night you heard his little snores turning to see his hair in the moonlight.

Jungkook showed you many collections naming all of the main characters and the plot line trying to get you to chose one. Of course the describing was filled with body expressions and his sound affects.

“Oh what is this?” You teased pulling up a comic of SpiderMan, Jungkook getting shy asking you to put it back.

“It’s not even right! First they have me date a women, I’m gay!” Jungkook realized what he just said always having the habit of saying things that are personal too quick.

“You’re gay?” You asked, Jungkook rubbing the back of his head seeing you put the comic back to the original place.

“..Yeah.” Jungkook quietly said hoping that you wouldn’t stomp on his poor heart. You pulled him into a hug messing with his hair.

“Me too.” You released the hug, Jungkook had asked if you had something to write with and something to write on. You pulled a napkin from the cafe you two were at earlier.

“Do you think I could come out? As spider-man?”

“Are you ready? I don’t want to force it on you.” You asked while Jungkook took the napkin signing it, you hiding him as best as you could from the cameras so his identity is hidden.

“Spider-man is Gay #pride2019 — spider man himself”

You two walked out of the bookstore giggling like kids. Jungkook holding the comics he bought with the one you chose to read with him. You could feel the bond get tighter every moment with him. You didn’t want to lose him and you’ve only had this day with him, he looked at the world with glowing eyes rather then seeing all the negative even if he sees it all while he’s spider-man.

“I wonder if falling in love with a spider is gay?” You mumbled under your breath while Jungkook spun around wondering what you said.

“Huh?”

“I wonder if facing my fear of... heights. Was a possibility?” You could be lying or you couldn’t, you never really went to the higher buildings of the city due to not being the most famous or successful person. Jungkook held your hands jumping up and down.

“Do you want me to get you up on the buildings?!” Jungkook cheered still holding your hands. They were soft. Jungkook always wanted to take someone to the buildings with him, it was like the picture perfect romantic setting. The starry night, the good-looking guy, and Jungkook getting his first kiss with yo- It was the starry night that was romantic! Not the possibility that you two might kiss, he wants it though. Good god does he want it.

“Yeah, sure.” You nodded, Jungkook realizing how long he’s been holding your hands letting them go shyly.

Jungkook walked with you till he found a secured place to change into his spidersuit. Jungkook changed in front of you really not realizing you were there. You tried to stare everywhere but Jungkook’s toned body. Jungkook finally changed into his suit, asking if you could carry his backpack just in case anyone would recognize it.

Wow you haven’t seen him in his spidersuit in so long but now that he’s stretching in it, testing his webs, and making sure he can climb up the building. You couldn’t look in his eyes which is saddening, you love his brown eyes. Jungkook was way more louder and out-going as spider-man though.

“Okay are you ready?” Jungkook was jumping in place waiting for your okay. You pulled the backpack handles around your shoulders tightening it.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” You nod, Jungkook pulling you close to his chest wrapping his hand around you. Jungkook could feel his heart race a little quicker not because of the adrenaline of going up this building, it was your head was like not even a feet away from his face. Kissing distance was there and just thinking about it made Jungkook blush.

Jungkook shot his webs pulling you two up the building. You probably shouldn’t look down and even Jungkook warned you about it but curiosity kills you, looking down you widen your eyes. Jungkook noticed it holding you tighter to his chest. Holy shit were you high! It only been like 5 minutes and wow you could see people as ants.

“You okay?” Jungkook said underneath his mask looking up trying to find a faster way up. You laughed like a manic seeing the adrenaline of being so free.

“Yeah! Keep going!” You yelled holding a camera while you told Jungkook to pose, he stopped his web shooting for a minute smiling.

Jungkook two hours ago would never do this with you, never let you take a selfie with him, and would never climb this building with you around him. He’s falling in love which is a unknown subject to him, but he’s going to really fall if he doesn’t stop staring at your eyes.

You two reached the top of the building feeling the strong breeze. You saw Jungkook a bit cold, when he’s on roof tops he’s fighting or chasing after villains but just being on here not moving a muscle the cold got to him. You pulled off your coat wrapping it around him. Jungkook was about to take it off to give it back to you but you stopped him.

“What? You deserve it.”

You two sat down, seeing the starry night of the city. You looked at the billboards seeing many advertisements of water that is way too expensive and clothes that just say one word on it and it suddenly costs 500 dollars. You looked back at Jungkook seeing him enjoy the jacket you let him borrow since it was way bigger than him and you enjoy your coats bigger because for some reason it makes sense to you that they would warm you up more.

Soon enough you saw the twitter trends billboard change instantly seeing #PrideSpiderman and #SpidermanisGay and #Spidergay. You couldn’t help but laugh a little bit, you pointed it for Jungkook to see. Jungkook laughing loudly leaning on you so he doesn’t fall on the concrete.

Jungkook got himself together getting back up from his laughing fit, the first thing he saw your face so close to his. Jungkook took off his mask so you could see him. The blush that is generating, the raw feelings for you, and the tears that are about to come out some from the laughing and others from wanting to kiss you so bad it’s annoying.

“Would it really kill you if we kissed?” Jungkook whispered pressing his forehead to yours. The breath hitches you both exchange realizing there was no way to back out now, you were going to be in his life and in his memories if he decides to not to date you. The city would always remember him of you, that bookstore would always remind him of you, and running and chasing after villains on the rooftop he’ll always blush remembering this day.

“Jungkook you’re going to kill me.” You embrace his face pulling him even closer. Pressing your lips to his, Jungkook felt the most adrenaline in his life with you kissing him. Jungkook closed his eyes letting the strong feelings of love run through his body. You released the kissing session seeing Jungkook still closing his eyes, you flick his forehead just like how he did that faithful night.

“Can we do it again?” Jungkook asks putting himself on your lap. You chuckled pulling him in once more, Jungkook being less nervous about kissing you. It was the prefect sweet harmony and one to always remember.

“I’ve always loved your hands.” Jungkook said while you embraced him, not even minutes later Jungkook realizes just how awkward that sounded.

“Oh god that sounds a lot creepy than I meant it to be.” Jungkook looked down to hide his embarrassment. You lifted his chin making the eye contact once again.

Don’t worry you dork.” You press a kiss on his forehead. 

“How are you going to explain to Namjoon when I come over?”

“Oh I said you were my boyfriend.” Jungkook realizing he did his very own foreshadowing.

“Oh really now?”

“Well, I needed an excuse of why I was gone when I came home at like 7am. Plus I kinda wanted to be your boyfriend at the time and you were kinda running through my head all the time but at the same time I didn’t know if I had feelings for you because like could I even have feelings for you if you knew I was spider-man-“

“Oh I’m doing that thing again.” Jungkook buries his head in your neck whining that he does talk a lot out of no where.

“If you find it annoying, I’ll stop.” Jungkook mumbles wondering when he should get off your lap. You gave him silence but Jungkook took that as “plz get off my lap you weirdo.” Jungkook lifted one leg off of you but before he could get off your lap you pressed him closer to you.

“Y/N?”

“You’re precious, I love your rambles don’t ever change.” Oh god butterflies flew everywhere in his stomach. Jungkook lifting his head, kissing you softly again.

You two arrived at the apparments sharing jokes and stories along the way till Jungkook opened the door, seeing Namjoon sitting on the couch in his pajamas, snacking on carrots. Namjoon waved at Jungkook before noticing you were there.

“Is this your boyfriend Jungkook?” Namjoon asked giving a rather playful face seeing Jungkook frown from the teasing. You held his hand raising it up for Namjoon to see.

“Yup! I’m Y/N, Jungkook’s boyfriend.” You announced offering to shake hands with Namjoon. Namjoon shook hands with you feeling the ferm grip. Jungkook felt the weight off his shoulders not having to worry about that.

“Wait did he just call me his boyfriend? Is that official? Or did he just say that to protect me? Is it okay to marry someone you just started dating?” Jungkook thought while you and Namjoon converse getting to know eachother.

Jungkook decided that it was time to have alone time with you, you exchanging goodnights with Namjoon. You felt Jungkook’s hand lead you to his bedroom. Not as strangers anymore, but as lovers. You couldn’t help but have a giant grin on your face.

“Guys did you hear spider man is gay!? This is a win for the gays!” You two heard from the other side of the door. Namjoon cheering, you looking at Jungkook looking like he was on top of the moon, you pulled him in so you both were laying down on his bed. Sleeping peacefully in eachothers arms not a care in the world wether bad guys existed or good guys, all you needed in your world was Jungkook. It didn’t matter if he was the global superhero spider-man or just a regular nerd that enjoys comics a little too much. You knew he was special.