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bakugohoex · 3 years

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“good girl, spread your legs more, you want me to make you feel good?”

pairing: katsuki bakugo x female reader

cw: aged up, nsfw (corruption kink, age gap, fingering, nipple play, biting and sucking, kissing, praise, virgin reader, unprotected consensual sex, office sex, finger sucking and jaw grabbing), talks about men being perverted as well

word count: 4,000+

information: corruption collab hosted by @ultimate-astridwriting

a/n: had such fun writing this, hope you guys enjoy this and check out the collab to see the other fics

summary: in which bakugo has always been infatuated with the pure guise you put on, when you come to his office late at night, how can he not resist the temptation of ruining something so sweet?

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He hated it, hated how in a single look you could have him under a spell. You were supposed to be his sidekick, his little pure sidekick. But the way you sauntered throughout the office in the early morning of June made him think of you differently, think of how those pure eyes had something so much more to them. He watched how the tight leotard fitted just above your hips, he had often seen the other sidekicks stare at your body.

He knew you never meant any harm with your costume, it made it easier for you to use your quirk and stay regulated by the commission. The way the top of your collars were open showed a glimpse of your chest as the short sleeves made your arms almost glisten in the sunlight. Bakugo played with the pen in his hand as he watched you smile happily with some other much older sidekicks.

Ever since you arrived a couple months back, it seemed like every single member of Bakugo’s agency had fallen under your innocent guise. But how pure could one little girl be, hell you were only a couple years younger than the man, but the fresh face you brought to his agency was an unknown presence.

Sidekicks seemed to fan around you, love every part of you. You spoke with such purity, as if you’d never experienced anything adult ever. You chuckled at some idiot's joke as he continued to stare, leaning back in his chair as the vest top allowed his arms to breath. Bakugo hated the look of lust his sidekicks gave; you were supposed to be his little sidekick nobody else’s. What gave them the right to look at your vulnerable self and think they deserved to even talk to you?

He watched as you walked closer to his glass doors, you easily dismissed the men who surrounded you as soon as you knocked on his door. “Come in.” He muttered, dropping the pen as you gave a soft smile to the man.

“Good morning Sir, I collected your mail as I arrived.” He hadn’t noticed the envelopes in your hand, hearing the formalities that he hated as you stood at the door waiting to be told to sit down.

He put his hand out for the mail you so kindly collected from the side; it was never your job, but you seemed to always love helping the man. “Sit.”

You followed his order passing the mail as you sat straight, legs clenched together and hands sitting on your thighs. Such a pretty picture he knew how men would long to have a woman like you waiting for them like this. He shook his head skimming through the mail, some from other hero agencies, some other shit he didn’t care for. “Is this all, Sir.”

“I told you not to call me that.” He scowled sternly.

“Sorry Si…Bakugo.” You quickly stuttered on your words sitting firm as his gaze looked you up and down.

He chucked the mail to the side, leaning on his arms to get a closer look at you, “you can leave now.” The presence you brought about was sickly, he almost felt disgusted being around you, but it was something he craved to fix. He wanted to ruin that smile, ruin the makeup you wore, ruin your thighs and neck.

You quickly nodded your head before walking out of the door, but you stopped at his door frame, “Bakugo.” He looked up to meet your gaze again, “you’ll be coming to the dinner tonight.”

It wasn’t a question rather than a plea for him to attend, one of his sidekicks was having a birthday dinner and he had so kindly asked everybody to attend along with some of his own friends. Bakugo looked back down at the papers before meeting your eyes again, “some shitty extras birthday is the least of my problems.”

It was all you needed to hear for you to leave his office, he watched you walk away almost sad that the man wasn’t attending. It was your first time getting together with your colleagues and Bakugo wasn’t attending. You had heard about the rising pro hero when he had just freshly graduated UA and you were in middle school, ever since you’d become infatuated with the man.

He had a shitty personality from his teen years but as you watched him grow and heard the UA teachers speak highly about the famous graduating class who had fought villains since their first year. How could you not respect the man and now getting the opportunity to be around him, work alongside him made your heart beat harder.

The day went by without any more word from Bakugo, he went on patrol with some of the older sidekicks whilst you got stuck with other fresh recruits on your own little patrols. Bakugo had noticed the tense look you gave him; he was going to attend the dinner, but he really had just wanted to see your reaction. The way you didn’t meet his eyes when he walked past you, but as soon as he wasn’t looking you’d stare longley at the man. Bakugo had to admit that your quirk was exceptional, the way you easily fought villains on one of the first patrols he’d been on with you was amazing. He saw the raw talent you had for this, the way you’d be able to move past being a sidekick and create your own agency.

Bakugo truthfully knew that you’d become a lot bigger than he was at 19, that your talent would be noticed, and he’d lose you. His eyes skimmed to the darkness in front of the panned-out glass, he saw how most had left for the dinner and others had left for their own patrols. He watched how the sky was filled with bright lights, the way each building housed another story. He heard a knock making him turn, he had expected you to have left by now but instead you were standing in your normal clothes, the short skirt and tight shirt that made your figure show even more than he had expected.

It was the first time he had ever been alone with you, even in his office there had always been watchful eyes staring at the interaction with the angry pro hero and the sweet sidekick. It sounded cliché in his head, but he watched how you stayed beside the door frame encase he told you to fuck off.

“Bakugo.” You whispered softly, he saw how your bag was held tightly in your other hand, you had a small smile as you looked for any sign he was letting you inside.

He beckoned you inside, watching how you stayed in full view of him, he hadn’t realised how tight your shirt actually was. How it accentuated your chest to make them almost spill out of your shirt, he hated the thoughts that skimmed through his head. For years, his only thought was to become the number one pro hero, of course he wasn’t a virgin, having had many one night stands in his time. But the lust he had for you, for you to be pushed against the glass of his office made his head spin in excitement.

“What do you want?” He questioned as he watched you take a seat in front of him, he licked his lips waiting for an answer as you dropped your bag to the side.

He waited for an answer, you soft eyes giving him a tender look that he wanted to ruin. He craved to have you in his arms, on his cock but you spoke some sweetly like a pure virgin would, so careful with your words. “I didn’t want you to be alone on a Friday night.”

It was sweet, sickly even how you took pity on him. He hated it, giving you a snare as you looked down, he was about to speak when you continued, “I didn’t want to go to the dinner without you.” His eyes almost softened as your own did, but he regained his composure tapping his finger against his thigh as he looked at your smaller fragile frame.

“Why?” It was a simple question, but you seemed unable to answer it, he watched as you stayed in thought thinking of an answer, but he beat you too any response, “scared to be without me, aren’t you baby girl.”

His words seethed with malice, you felt mocked and disgraced you were unable to form the words to say he was wrong. Because he wasn’t, you were scared to be without him, scared to be in a room with men who had eyed you up on multiple days. He saw the worry that flashed as you tensed up, were you really that scared to be left in a room with them. He sat up moving to stand in front of his desk as he leaned against it, arms muscles on show as you didn’t meet his eyes.

“I should go.” You spoke hesitantly, but he leaned forward, hands on the chair as he trapped your body between his own.

His breath skimmed onto your face as he stared down at your fragile self, you were a pretty little porcelain doll for him to break. He moved one finger to touch your chin forcing you to look at him, you finally met his gaze feeling so small in front of him. “Bakugo.” You breathed out heavily, he imagined this breathless was from him pounding into you making him groan in frustration.

“What is it, spit it out princess?” He was toying with you, every word filled with a lust to ruin you in a matter of seconds.

His finger forcing you to look at him as your breath was heavy, “I didn’t want to go, they make me all uncomfortable.” It was a confession of the fear that you had to the men, Bakugo looked down, his eyes glazed with a type of discomfort at your own comment.

“I’ll tell them to stop.” He was going to stick by his word, but it was more for his own sake then anything else. He wanted them to stop so only he could have you, only he could think disgustingly dirty thoughts of you. You nodded but his finger stayed firm on your chin, “do you want me to stop?”

His question brought you to think of the prior actions of the past couple of months. They way he’d bark orders to the sidekicks whenever he saw them getting too handsy with you, the way he’d stand in between you and another man letting you beside him only. The way that he allowed you into his office without a growl to tell you to fuck off, it all came down to this moment. He may have not explicitly stated he wanted you like the others, but it had always been a lingering feeling.

“I don’t.” You shook your head looking at his lips, he licked them before grabbing your jaw up making you stand up. He let go of your jaw, the lingering miss of his touch as he went and sat on his chair, the way he spread his legs, his arms ready to divulge into you made you squirm.

He patted his lap, as you followed his instruction, your skirt riding as you situated yourself on his lap. One arm around your waist as the other skimmed down your mouth to your jaw and that’s when the question occurred. The one where you could decide if this was what you really wanted, “you want me to fuck you baby girl?”

You looked down at his lingering hands ready to either leave your chest or caress every part of your body. “I want you.” It was a whisper and Bakugo gave a soft chuckle at how stupidly quiet you’d gotten.

“Speak up, doll, or I’ll have to leave you to sort yourself out.” He was dead serious in his comment waiting for a proper reply to the question.

“I want to do this.” You spoke more loudly; his hand cupped your breast from on top of the shirt as his other hand gripped your side before his lips met your own.

Your hands moved to his cheek, kissing him softly but he had other ideas. He brought your body closer, wanting to feel your cunt clench against his thigh as he kissed you. His tongue gliding inside at the sign of one of your moans, one of your hands moving to grab the back of his neck.

You knew you had to tell him, it’d be wrong of you if you didn’t and it would make him know that you weren’t just looking for a hook-up. As you let go of his hair, your hand still around his neck as you breathed heavily into his mouth you confess something that could end whatever this was. “I’m a virgin.”

“I assumed.” He spoke moving his mouth to your neck, he hadn’t even thought to care about it, he was going to have you if it was the last thing he’d do.

You gave a soft moan as your hands played with the ends of his blond locks, “and you don’t care?” You questioned as his teeth nibbled on your neck, the sound of sucking and his tongue lapping against your neck heard throughout the room.

“Should I?” He had been admiring the purple bruises across your neck too care about the look of worry you had on your face, “my pretty little Y/n, what did you think I’d be so crude as to take your virginity and not want something else from you.” He moved his mouth to your ear sending a shiver down your spine as he continued, “once I fuck you and you cum on my cock, this cunt belongs to me and only me, okay?”

“Okay.” You replied obediently, Bakugo couldn’t wait to ruin you.

He went in for another kiss, watching how one hand rested on his bicep as your other landed on his chest. “You're gonna be a good girl for me.” He spoke parting ways as he took the shirt off of your body, seeing how you face flushed at feeling exposed. “Don’t hide yourself, pretty girl, I’m going to make you feel so good.”

Bakugo knew how scared you must feel knowing this was your first time in an unconventional setting, but even then he wanted to make it good for you. Make you remember your first time as something amazing that brought you pleasure rather than the pain of it all.

You nodded as you moved your hands away, his mouth moving to your neck as his tongue licked right down to where both your breasts parted. He unclipped your bra, the snap making you look down to meet his eyes as he sucked on one of your hand nipples. You could almost feel your underwear begin to soak through, glad Bakugo was wearing the baggy trousers.

The sucking of your nipples filled the room before, he let go easily bringing you up onto the desk. He saw how your skirt lifted up, exposing the cotton underwear he had been wishing to see. Your back rested against the hard wood as he looked at you with watchful eyes, “good girl, spread your legs more, you want me to make you feel good?”

“P…please make me feel you.” Your words echoed in his ear as he dragged the skirt down your legs, chucking it on the floor before moving your underwear to the side. Slick coating the fabric as he dipped his fingers into your clit, it sent a shiver as you tried to hide a moan by biting your hand. His hand moved to grab it away, holding it down as he brought his chair closer to your exposed body.

“Pretty, pretty thing, you going to let me ruin you now, let me stretch you out.” You were ever so submissive, so eager as he strung you along with every word.

His fingers moved past your clit as it circled your cunt, before divulging your insides. He let two fingers begin pumping back and forth as he watched how your heavy moans filled the room. He knew that if someone came walking into the doors both of you would be caught but why should he care. It's his agency and you were his pretty girl.

“Katsuki.” The way his name rolled off your tongue sent a surge for more from Bakugo as he inserted a third finger pumping in and out through the slick.

He heard the way you moaned heavily gripping his other hand whilst your other gripped the edge of the table. He continued with his actions, before feeling your cunt clench against him, “you want to cum princess, cum on my fingers…go on.” The coil inside of you had almost felt pressured to release at his words.

You’d never cummed before and the feeling that came with it brought you on a high, he watched you give a hefty moan of his name and a swear before gushing right onto his fingers. “You gonna keep this all inside.”

It was a command you’d happily follow as his fingers were still coated in slick. You looked eagerly at his fingers that he was about to put in his mouth, but the way you looked at them, in an instant he knew what you wanted. “Dirty thing aren’t you, you want to taste yourself.” Bakugo sucked one of the fingers leaving the other two coated in you, saliva went down the third before he stuck all three into your mouth.

You sucked the cum and spit from his fingers feeling like a whore for doing something like this, Bakugo enjoyed the feeling of your tongue wrapping around his fingers. As much as he wanted to feel your mouth on his cock, for your first time he wanted to please you and make the innocent girl not so innocent anymore.

His fingers came out with a pop as your cunt leaked out cum onto the table. He took his vest off, your eyes widening at the true extent of Bakugo’s body before he undid his trousers. You could already see the bulge, but you had no idea it was truly a good size cock. Anything could satisfy you at this point, he watched how you leant against your elbows watching him strip. It felt like your very own show, his eyes lingered across your frame, the smell of cum and sweat soaking the air.

He chucked his trousers to the side before doing the same with his boxers. His blushed tip and much larger cock twitched upwards, he pumped up and down as precum dribbled down to his thighs. You knew that what he had was a lot larger than average, your mouth watered as you felt an urgency to have it inside of you.

“Please…inside me.” You could barely even speak, Bakugo smirked at the effect he had on you aligning his cock right to where your cunt was.

“So needy, keep begging.” His cock lingered in place as he waited for more.

You mewled more pleas before he heard something that made his cock twitch, “please…Sir, please I’m your good girl.” You spoke through a broken voice as you had begged for his cock.

“This is going to hurt.” You knew it would and as he began to push his cock inside of you, tears welled up as they trickled down your face, black mascara staining your eyes as he felt a sadistic enjoyment from this. “There you go, let me all the way in, pretty girl.”

His praise meant the world as he was glad to have stretched your cunt out with his fingers prior, but even then the extent of how much you could take was limited. He felt suffocated around you as you continued to sob, Bakugo bent down to meet your eyes. “You’re doing so well baby.”

He wiped the tears as he kissed you again, he wanted to fill you right up before thrusting, make you feel suffocated and filled up. It would get rid of the pureness, get rid of everything innocent that men had been attracted to. “I’m…doing good.” You whispered through the kiss, loving and appreciating the praise you were getting.

His hands cupped your cheek as he gave you a smirk, “you’re doing amazing baby girl.” He kissed the side of your jaw as he felt all of him stuff you full. “You ready?”

“Yes Sir.” You whispered back hands locking into his hair as one of his hands had gripped your thigh to bring it up. The much easier access had allowed for him to begin thrusting in and out of your cunt, slick and your previous cum helping him as he felt swallowed inside of you.

Bakugo knew how he was with sex, brash, fast and lustful but at this moment with you. He was nothing but loving and caring, making sure you felt pleasure. He met your eyes, how you looked at him with such admiration before you leant forward through his thrusting, “You okay?”

You gave a small moan at his question as the pain had turned into pleasure, each thrust ridding the pain. You knew why you had stayed a virgin for so long, you were waiting. You didn’t know who for, but at this moment in time, you knew it had always been for Katsuki Bakugo.

“Fuck.” You whispered as his pace quickened, he watched your eyes roll to the back of your head as he felt himself touch the back of your uterus. The way his cock had left a bulge into your stomach as he was able to see himself fill you entirely, “fa…faster.”

He obeyed your wish as he thrusted faster and deeper, every moan making him groan loudly in your ear. “Doing…doing so well princess.”

His leant his forehead against your own as you both took in each other’s presence, his thrusts becoming sloppier as your moans became louder. “You gonna cum on me.” You nodded eagerly as even though you felt tired you still had the strength to look right up into Bakugo’s scarlet eyes.

You felt the coil in your stomach re-release as cum gushed out in one hefty swipe, “fuck Katsuki…” You breathed heavily, tears flooded down, mascara ruined, hair dishevelled. Bakugo continued to thrust waiting for his own oncoming high, he knew he hadn’t used a condom but at this moment he wanted to fill you right up.

“Can I?” He whispered into your ear, trailing kisses down your neck to your collarbones, his thrusting leading to squelches forming in the room.

“I’m on the pill.” He didn’t bother asking why, even though through your moan and rolled out eyes he could only assume it had something to do with your quirk. You laid on the table, moaning as Bakugo thrusted back and forth, you felt empty but the love and passion he had as he groaned your name at every thrust brought you pleasure.

His mouth moved to suck on your collarbone, the more bruises to show who you belonged to. Your hands moved to his back as long scratch lines formed until you felt Bakugo cum right inside of you. The feeling of being filled to the brim as even more cum was being stuffed inside of you, you had heard him moan your name as his head was on the crook of your neck.

“You did so well baby girl.” He whispered, slipping his cock back out as he looked at your body and face. He grabbed your jaw to make you look at him again, “this well tell those stupid extras to not look at what’s mine.”

You softened at his possessiveness as you felt him give your temple a sweaty kiss. His lips lingered as he admired how you looked. The pure innocent girl that had arrived in his office would be leaving as the cum filled stained girl that now belonged to him.

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angryteapot · 5 years

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Hard to Say

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: What happens when you tell Steve, your adorkably loving boyfriend, that you’re bored? He takes you on a midnight adventure and gives you the Universe.

Warnings: So much sappy fluff you may very well barf.

Word Count: 2532

A/N: My (slightly late) entry for @imhereforbvcky & @justsomebucky ‘s Cap² Challenge! Prompt is bolded. There was a few ways this could have gone, but @delicatelyherdreams told me to go in this disgustingly sweet direction. Thanks for always being amazing and going over my unedited fluff garbage! <3

To be added to the taglist, send me an ask or dm! My inbox is always open if you want to chat or rant! <3

“Steve.”

“Hmm?” He raised his eyebrows and hummed in response, still not looking up at you, completely engrossed in his sketchbook.

You wiggled your socked feet, which were tucked under his thigh as you both sat on the sofa - him on one end and you stretched out, leaning against the armrest with a book and a mug of hot chocolate.

“Y/N,” he laughed, “Give me a minute to finish this shading then, I promise, you’ll have my full attention.”

You harrumphed and muttered a petulant “fine” as you slumped back and let your eyes roam his concentrated face. When Steve was concentrated on his sketching, his eyebrows drew together, nose slightly scrunched, lower lip protruding adorably. You couldn’t help the small, adoring smile that painted your lips.

You’d been in a happily committed relationship with Steve for the better part of four years, with two years of friendship prior to that, and yet each time you looked at him it was like falling in love all over again.

You were still studying his profile when he finally turned to you with a wide smile, reaching his arms up to stretch. Amidst a satisfied groan he said, “Okay sweetheart, you have my full attention. What was it you wanted to tell me?”

Your mind blanked as his shirt rode up slightly from his stretching, exposing his toned stomach.

“Uhhh…”

He smirked and cocked one eyebrow. “Am I distracting you?”

“No…” you shook your head to focus and smiled sweetly. “Stevie?”

“Oh boy. Whenever you use that nickname, with that tone and smile, it usually means trouble.”

You adored this man. “No you goof, not this time. I’m just so bored! I don’t really have the energy to start a prank war, so I need you to distract me - not in that way, you perv!”

“Aw honey, you wound me,” his salacious grin had turned into a mock pout.

Rolling your eyes, you scooted yourself over until you were tucked under his arm, staring up at him with puppy dog eyes. “C’mon Stevie, take me somewhere magical.”

“Y/N, it’s…” he glanced at the clock across the room, “It’s past ten, there’s nothing open but bars and food pl-”

You stared at him as he trailed off, a thoughtful look on his face before he grinned and continued, “Y’know what? I know the perfect place.”

“No bars or crowded places? I don’t know if I’m up for that tonight,” you looked down at your socked feet and over-sized sweater (the one you stole from Bucky), and decided that you most definitely did not want to change into actual clothes.

“Just you and me, sweetheart. I promise there will be nobody else but us, and you don’t even have to change if you don’t want to… On second thought, you might want to put on some sweats, it’ll be a little chilly.”

“You have yourself a deal Rogers, gimme seven-ish minutes and I’ll meet you… where?” You hopped up with a kiss to his cheek, excited and already on your way to grab some sweats.

“Make it fifteen, I have to grab a few things. Meet me in the hangar, okay?”

“You got it!”

> > > Thirty Minutes Later > > > >

True to his word, Steve had been waiting for you by one of the jets fifteen minutes later. Your arms were laden with a few essentials for your mystery adventure, and you were bouncing with excitement as you both boarded the jet.

Steve had immediately gone to the cockpit and punched in the coordinates to the mystery location and set it on autopilot. After the jet was in the air, he'd smiled and said he'd be right back, disappearing into the small room that usually housed a cot and medical supplies for emergencies.

“Steve. Steve. Where are we going? I brought my blanket. And a thermos with hot chocolate," you called out to him from around the opaque glass. “If you tell me where we’re going, I’ll share with you.”

Silence.

“Steve. Stevie. Stévano. Stevína. Ste- hey!”

You laughed as he stalked out of the little room, his glare playfully disgruntled by your name-calling.

"So… where we goin'?" Your cheeky grin was contagious, and Steve smiled softly at you before responding.

"Somewhere special. But it's a surprise, so you're not allowed to see. Is it okay if I blindfold you when we get closer?"

You were wrapped in his arms, a kiss pressed to the crown of your head as the question was asked. You looked up at him in bewilderment, "Blindfold? Wow, who knew Cap was so kinky?"

The teasing glint in your eye and the exaggerated wink you gave had him rolling his own eyes.

"No uniform, so Cap has left the building, you're stuck with plain ol' Steve. And the blindfold is to keep it a surprise, but I could possibly be persuaded to use it in… other situations."

You laughed out, "You're incorrigible. But uh, about that Cap thing…"

He blanched. "You didn't. Please Y/N, tell me you didn't."

"I did indeed, my dear Captain. I'm in my pajamas and you're in sweats and a t-shirt, it's time to even the playing field."

Turning around with a flourish, you reached into your bag and pulled out the set of novelty Captain America pajamas, thrusting them into his chest and pointing to the changing area.

"Step to, Captain!"

"Yes ma'am," he pouted as he walked around the partition to reluctantly change into the offending outfit.

A few minutes later, he emerged covered in gaudy red white and blue, a poorly-drawn replica of his shield covering the chest. You couldn't contain your laughter as you saw that his long legs had turned the pants into high-waters.

"You're lucky I love you," Steve pouted as he crossed his arms, wincing when a ripping sound filled the air.

"I am indeed lucky you love me, thank you for humoring me, my dear Captain," you hugged him and leaned up to kiss his pouty lips.

> > > > > > >

You had been in the air for several hours, which made you incredibly curious as to where Steve was taking you. The time was filled with card games and banter, even some light dozing on your part as Steve rubbed your shoulders. Said dozing was interrupted, a small snort of surprise leaving you, when the console beeped and F.R.I.D.A.Y. announced, "Five minutes to the destination, Captain Rogers."

"Thank you F.R.I.D.A.Y.," he acknowledged. He turned to you and nuzzled your cheek, whispering, "Time for the blindfold, sweetheart."

You acquiesced and let him slip it over your eyes, trusting him to guide you to whatever the surprise was.

Minutes passed, and you felt him stand behind you, torso pressed against your back as his hands gripped your shoulders.

A shiver ran down your spine as he whispered in your ear, "Do you trust me to guide you?"

"I'd trust you to the end of the Universe."

He told you to walk forward, maneuvering around obstacles with gentle nudges to your shoulder. He pulled you to a stop, telling you that there were steps in front of you, ten of them to be exact. He helped you up them, closely following as his hand rested on the small of your back to help you up.

It was a good thing that he was taller than you, because he was on the step below you but you could feel him reach up to unlatch the door.

"Are we going to the top of the jet?"

"Yes ma’am we are. F.R.I.D.A.Y., are we in position?"

"You better not be planning to push me off, Rogers. F.R.I.D.A.Y. will avenge me if you do."

He only chuckled, listening to the AI's response. "Yes, Captain Rogers. Would you like me to land?"

"No, keep it hovering, and turn on stealth mode please."

"Of course, sir."

"Stealth mode?" you inquired.

He shushed you and guided you through the hatch.

"Okay, you ready for this, sweetheart?"

You kept close to him; you didn't think he'd let you fall off the edge of the jet, but you weren't about to take any chances since you didn't know how high the jet was hovering.

"As ready as I'll ever be, Rogers."

He gently lifted the blindfold, kissing your eyelids and smoothing your hair down.

"Oh," you gasped in wonder, eyes filled with stars. Not in the cliché sense, but in the literal sense - the stars were so vibrant and plentiful above you, even the Milky Way was splashed beautifully across the sky.

You looked over the edge of the jet, still clinging to Steve, to see a million reflected stars beneath you as well. With the jet in stealth mode, it seemed as if you were floating in the air, completely immersed in stars and magic.

"Steve it's beautiful. Where are we?"

Pulling you away from the ledge, he hugged you from behind, lulling the both of you into a gentle sway, "Bolivia. I was looking online for the best stargazing locations, and came across these salt flats. I looked up pictures and I knew that I just had to bring you here."

You turned around in his arms, wrapping your own around his waist and looking up at him adoringly. "You're such a sap."

He just smiled and held you tighter, "Dance with me?"

You guessed those were the magic words, because suddenly soft music permeated the air. You started dancing in time to the slow beat, trusting Steve to keep you away from the invisible edges of the jet.

You danced slowly for quite a while until it morphed into a mellow swing dance, Steve expertly swinging and lifting you, your eyes cast up to the stars and laughing freely. After dancing awhile longer, you both carefully made your way to sit at the edge of the jet, feet hanging over.

> > > > > > >

You held hands and sat in peaceful silence, just gazing up at the breathtaking night sky. Steve fidgets a bit, squeezing your hand until you looked over to him. In the dark, lit only by the brilliant stars overhead, his beautiful eyes look iridescent.

"I love you," the earnestness in Steve's tone as he told you this was something new.

"A horrible decision, really," you quipped. It was a thing with you: never saying those three words back.

Of course you loved him and he knew that but actually saying it terrified you; it would make everything that much more real. Even after all those years of happiness, you were waiting for the other shoe to drop. You were Avengers, true happiness could never be in the cards for long. You vainly hoped that never saying those three particular words would keep away the inevitable heartbreak.

"I will give you everything in my pocket if, just for tonight, you hold my hand and say that you love me."

His words shocked you, lip wobbling with the fresh anxiety that was crawling up your throat.

"Your Captain America pajama pockets?" You tried to joke, deflect, but his eyes spoke volumes of just how much he needed to hear those up.

Time to pony up Y/N, you thought to yourself. You loved Steve with everything you had, and he deserved to hear those words. Sure, you said it in obscure ways, or showed him with thoughtful actions, but you could tell he desperately wanted to hear those specific three words.

Shifting to face him better, you gripped his hands and tried, "I-" Your voice wavered, and you took a breath, steeling yourself before trying again. You looked him in the eye and announced with conviction, "I love you, Steve Rogers."

His eyes widened, truly not expecting the next onslaught or words and emotions.

"Oh god, I love you so much Steve," tears welled up in your eyes but didn’t fall as you flung yourself into his chest and babbled, "I love you so much, I just couldn't bring myself to say those words. But I adore you, you mean the world to me and I would follow you to the end of the Universe."

Steve was elated, rubbing your arms soothingly and peppering kisses to your forehead, eyelids, cheeks, finally meeting your lips in a passionate kiss.

You felt him squirm out of your hands, confused until you pulled back and saw what he was holding.

"I did promise you everything that was in my pockets sweetheart," his smile was sweet and nervous, "Will you stay by my side forever and make me the happiest being in the Universe?"

"Are you-" eyes wide, hands drifting up to cover your gasp.

"Y/N will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

The ring was beautiful, but nothing shone brighter than his hopeful smile.

"Yes, of course I will, you stupid jerk. God, you just had to propose while we're both in ridiculous pajamas, and my hair's a mess, and my eyebags are probably taking over my face, but it's beautiful and so stupidly perfect, I love y - mph!"

Steve laughed and interrupted your rambling with an elated kiss, pulling you away from the edge to lay half on top of him as he hugged you tightly.

You stayed that way, briefly getting up to grab the blanket, before laying with him on the jet roof. You both drifted off in each others' arms, woken mere hours later with a flash of light. You both slowly woke, sitting up to watch the world turn into a kaleidoscope of breathtaking colors as the sun finally rose.

You looked at your ring, mesmerized at how beautifully it sparkled in the new sunlight. You looked up to Steve and saw him smiling dopily, your own expression probably mirroring his.

> > > > > > >

You got up hand in hand and started the journey back home, eager to share the news. And to sleep in your soft bed rather than the hard surface of the jet. A few hours in the air and you suddenly blurted, "Was that planned the whole time?"

Sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, Steve turned from the cockpit and said, "Not exactly. I mean, I've been carrying that ring for a while, but it never seemed like the right time. But last night, with the stars, and you looked so happy and beautiful. We were both in ridiculous pajamas, no plan, just a spontaneous trip. You were laughing, and there was starlight in your hair, and I just knew then that it was the perfect moment."

You walked over and half-heartedly punched him in the arm, face-planting into his chest as the joyful tears finally fell. "God, you're so stupid and sappy, I love you so much you idiot."

"I feel lovingly insulted, but I'm going to kiss you anyways."

"You better," you sniffled as he placed a finger under your chin and tilted your face up to meet his lips.

To some people it might have been a weird, imperfect proposal, but it meant the world to you. And if the other shoe did indeed drop, you would have Steve by your side to fight whatever came your way.

#cap2challenge #steve rogers x reader #steve roger x you #captain america x reader #captain america x you #reader insert #fluff #steve rogers fanfiction #captain america fanfiction #stargazing #established relationship

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chilly-territory · 5 years

Text

Uchouten Kazoku 2, chapter 1 (part 2 out of 3)

This part has more info on the Nidaime than the anime mentioned (which is basically my reason for taking up this novel lol)

The Eccentric Family: The Nidaime's Homecoming (Uchouten Kazoku: Nidaime no Kichou) by Morimi Tomihiko

Chapter 1 (part 2/3, pages 29-52)

〇

"Oh? It's rare to see an elephant in Nyoigadake."

The English gentleman descended to stand on the slope of Daimonji, putting a hand to his silk hat as he looked up at me.

When I shortened my body, returning to the form of a good-for-nothing college student, "As I thought, it was a tanuki's shapeshifting, huh. Quite splendid," he murmured and clapped soundlessly in a pretentious manner.

This Western-styled tengu was a chalk-white handsome man with an air of a foreigner, an old-fashioned returnee just back to Japan, conspicuous in the most extravagant way possible. A glossy silk hat, a black three-piece suit fitting his body to a nicety, a dress shirt so white it looked like plaster, a black bow tie and a cane held in slender leather-gloved hands were all parts of that. Tengu were creatures whose age was unidentifiable to begin with, but in human years he looked to be around his late thirties. One tremendously good-looking tengu, in short.

Picking up the travel suitcase, he called out to the Kurama tengu, who until then were only grunting inarticulately.

"Hello, my good sirs. What might you be playing at in these parts?"

The Kurama tengu got up and were now staring at the gentleman with dumb expressions.

Suddenly, Reizanbou tore off his sunglasses and exclaimed in astonishment, "If it isn't Yakushibou the Nidaime [*1]! Why have you come back now?" "Because I've seen everything that I needed to see. Is chief Kurama doing well? Once I've settled in, I plan to go greet him. By the way..." the Nidaime said smoothly, looking around in puzzlement, "I'm sure I had sent my other luggage here, as well, but..." "Aah, that," Reizanbou intoned coldly. "They were in the way, so we tossed them out." "...And why would you do such a thing? It's not like this mountain belongs to you."

Reizanbou winked to his companions, and the Kurama tengu spread out, encircling the Nidaime. The air of arrogance filled the space.

"You fell behind the times, Nidaime. We've taken over Nyoigadake."

For all intents and purposes, the situation seemed to have finally come down to a tengu fight, and I felt positively thrilled, my hair vibrating. For you see, these days tengu fights happened exceedingly rarely, and clashes like the battle between Akadama-sensei and the Kurama tengu in Mt.Atagoyama, the great tug of war between the tengu of Shiga and the tengu of Kyoto at the island of Chikubushima and the Ibukiyama Flyer Shootdown operation were stuff of legends anymore you only heard about in anecdotes. For tanuki, if you were lucky enough to witness a historic tengu battle, you would have enough bragging material for drinking parties for the rest of your life.

The Nidaime, however, remained utterly indifferent, as if the Kurama tengu's provocation fell on completely deaf ears.

"Oh, that's what's happened. Duly noted." "Don't you have anything else to say?" Reizanbou asked in a tone of complete let-down. "What a disgustingly heartless fellow. We kicked your father off this mountain, you know." "If that's the case, Nyoigadake rightfully belongs to you good sirs," the Nidaime said, making a disinterested face. "Or what, are you ashamed of your actions?" "Why would we be ashamed?!" "Then show more pride. After all, you gentlemen are almighty tengu, and if you get too caught up in the heat of a turf war, no one can complain... Speaking of which, where is my father?" "Behind the Demachi shopping arcade. Dependent on tanuki in a crummy little apartment." "Then I'll finish him myself. Now, gentlemen, if you'll excuse me."

The Nidaime gave a slight polite bow to the Kurama tengu and smoothly took off into the sky with grace and elegance, as if riding an invisible elevator.

The Kurama, dumbstruck, watched him depart.

Only when his form was no longer visible did they open their mouths to start a heated discussion and exchange commentary. Stamping their feet noisily on the scattered hanafuda cards of steel, they were saying in a chorus, "He's just as smartass as ever." "Who would've thought he'd come back now?" "Should we let the head family know?" "Does Atagoyama know?" They no longer spared any thought to the impertinent little tanuki who called them small timers, it seemed.

Taking advantage of the fact, I changed back into my tanuki form and broke into a run, heading toward the foot of the mountain.

As I dashed through the forest, my little brother who'd been hiding, jumped out of some bush at me. "Nii-chan, you're alive!" he exclaimed in delight. After a while spent rejoicing over the fact that we both were unharmed, I shapeshifted into my worthless college student form, while my brother into a little boy, and the two of us went down the slop in front of the gate to Ginkakuji temple that was crowded with tourists, then proceeded farther, running along a drainage canal under sakura trees that were already bloomless.

There was no time to worry about tsuchinoko or the tengu stone anymore. What had to take precedence was Akadama-sensei's safety.

I heard loud and clear with my own ears that the Nidaime said he would finish sensei himself, and when you took into account this tengu strife between the father and the son that had survived more than a hundred years, it was quite probable that he would visit sensei's place to settle the score in a violent and gory way. Still, Akadama-sensei was our honored mentor who provided guidance to us for generations, us four brothers, our father, his father and countless other furballs had studied under him. Even if as a tengu, sensei was no different from not being one at all anymore, I couldn't simply sit and watch as someone put an end to his tengu life without mounting some resistance.

As we were running along Imadegawa-doori street, I ordered my little brother to go back to the Tadasu forest.

"Go tell our big brother that the Nidaime's returned. We also need to let Yasaka-san know." "What are you going to do, nii-chan?" "I'm going to Demachiyanagi. The Nidaime resents sensei, so he's sure to come there to exact revenge. Before he does, I'll get sensei to escape somewhere."

And so, my little brother sped toward the Tadasu forest with the urgent message, while my destination was the apartment building Masugata just behind the Demachi shopping district.

〇

A certain retired tengu by the name of Iwayasan Kinkoubou-san ran a used camera store in the Nihonbashi neighborhood, and I'd been to his place frequently. Kinkoubou was one of Akadama-sensei's few friends, and it was he who told me some details regarding the Nidaime.

The Nidaime's birthplace was the city of Kiyou, that is, presently the city of Nagasaki.

When the Nidaime set foot on the Kyoto soil after being kidnapped from Nagasaki by Akadama-sensei, the time was the Meiji era, in the period of it where the multiple riots associated with the Meiji Restoration had already turned into a thing of the past.

"My son," was how Akadama-sensei introduced the Nidaime to Kinkoubou.

Kinkoubou remembered vividly what the Nidaime looked like when he first stepped in Kyoto. Although a beautiful boy with plump cheeks showing leftover childishness, he had a razor-sharp gaze and it was transparent to see that he was hiding some seriously hot temper. From just one look, it was clear that Akadama-sensei's blood flowed in his veins.

Japan’s booming development of the Meiji era had seemingly nothing to do with the boy receiving tengu education from Akadama-sensei. During Japan's westernization when the Biwako canal was finished, the municipal tram system developed and new buildings constructed, the boy spent all his time in the recesses of Nyoigadake undergoing tough training. But by no means did it mean the young Nidaime was satisfied with his circumstances. Evidently, the reason why he'd accepted his situation and worked hard at his tengu training was because in his heart he had decided to distinguish himself as quickly as possible and overthrow his detested father.

Time flowed by, marking the coming of a new century and a new Taishou era.

The Nidaime turned into a dazzling young man, and there was no keeping him secluded in Nyoigadake anymore. Together with the chief of Kurama, Kuramayama Soujoubou, with whom the Nidaime had become friends, he would sneak into high schools, pose as a student and go to party in the night town, taking tanuki along. Akadama-sensei frowned at the Nidaime's conduct; the Nidaime, for his part, kept steadily gaining strength as a tengu, competing with Akadama-sensei head-on. It was a precarious situation where both, the father and the son alike, eagerly searched for a chance to let loose and allow their tempers explode.

And that was where a certain woman came into play.

A western-style hotel with a clock tower appeared at Karasuma-doori street rather suddenly. She was the sheltered daughter of the owner of that '20th century hotel', a nouveau riche who built his fortune on war.

The Nidaime fell in ardent love at first sight, but Akadama-sensei meddled, saying that he needed to punish his negligent pupil who had lost his way. At the time, Akadama-sensei was still overflowing with vitality as a tengu, and the wicked deed of making passes at his son's first love was no big deal to him, it seemed.

That struggle over love, unfolding on the stage that was the brilliantly shining hotel, got more and more complicated until the Nidaime's patience that was being stretched thin ever since his being a young boy was finally overtaxed, his temper exploding in flames.

The father and the son clashed in what was a huge fight shaking all the 36 peaks of the Higashiyama mountains and lasting 3 days and 3 nights.

As the two battled without sleep or rest, riddled with wounds and reduced to savages, they ended up crawling up the main roof of the Minamiza theater [*2] that was still under reconstruction at the time. As bluish-white lightning tore through the dark skies and a downpour shrouded the city, they mustered the last of their strength and clashed. Seeing them stick their fingers in the opponent's nostrils, pull each other's hair and unintelligibly grunt was like watching a children's squabble instead of tengu's death struggle. Still, as per the saying, experience proved the best teacher in the end, and Akadama-sensei, going wild like a lion, kicked the Nidaime down from Minamiza's roof and to Shijou-doori street below, letting loose a triumphant roar. Under the beating rain, the defeated Nidaime escaped through the dark city and disappeared.

Since then, a hundred years had passed.

Nyoigadake Yakushibou the Nidaime, having set foot on his native land after returning from the British Empire, entered a luxury lodging, Kyoto Hotel Okura in Kawaramachi-oike, with appropriate grandeur and dignity.

While the Nidaime, having deposited his luggage in a comfortable guest room of the hotel, was carefully dressing, intending to visit his father and settle the score, Akadama-sensei, holed up in his cheap apartment behind the Demachi shopping arcade, hugged a daruma doll with one eye filled in [*3] close and prayed for Benten's return to Japan, chanting "BentenBentenBenten" all the while.

Why were these father and son as different as night and day?

It was a cruel story, just the tengu way.

〇

Luckily, when I burst into Akadama-sensei's apartment, the Nidaime wasn't there yet.

Through the openings in the curtain that more resembled an old rag, the spring sun streamed, illuminating the four and a half tatami mat room buried in junk. Akadama-sensei in yellowish underwear snored loudly on his permanently laid-out futon; in contrast to the overall pitiful sight that he presented, sensei's sleeping face was the height of happiness. He was probably dreaming of Benten's bottom. "Please wake up!" Even when I shook him, sensei just turned over, greedily clinging to his backside dream and even looking like he was diving ever deeper into its sweetness.

"Oh, for Heaven's sake. He just won't wake up."

Around the futon, all kinds of personal belongings were scattered such as tengu tobacco, the Fuujin-Raijin folding fan, a concise picture postcard from Benten and sensei's favorite towel, among others. I gathered them, wrapped them in a cloth, lifted sensei's body and deposited it on my own back. He probably wouldn't be happy to have been carried to the tanuki forest while asleep, but I had no time to wait for him to wake up comfortably on his own.

When I opened the door to the apartment and was about to leave, I saw the silhouette of an English gentleman behind the fence surrounding the building who was clearly out of place in the Demachiyanagi neighborhood.

"Uhyaa! It’s the Nidaime! He sure wastes no time."

With no other choice, I went back into the room.

The image of Akadama-sensei the Nidaime had in his head was that from a century ago, and there was no way he could've accurately predicted what sensei looked like in the present after his downfall. In which case, if I shapeshifted into sensei, I just might be able to deceive the Nidaime's eyes somehow. You never knew if maybe greeting the Nidaime warmly and giving him a hug as the fake Akadama-sensei would actually be enough to start thawing the ice of his hundred year old grudge. Oh, right, almost forgot.

I threw the junk out of the closet and shoved Akadama-sensei, who was still hugging the daruma doll, into it together with his futon. Just as I shut the sliding screen closed, the Nidaime knocked on the door.

"Is Nyoigadake Yakushibou in?"

I shapeshifted into Akadama-sensei and sat down in the center of the small room cross-legged.

"Come in," I said loudly.

After a few moments, the Nidaime opened the door and stepped inside, peering into the four and a half tatami mat room from where the small kitchen was. He was pressing a snow white handkerchief over his nose and mouth. It was no wonder: smoke from the tengu tobacco, the stench of Akadama port wine left on the bottom of several bottles mixed with that of food in bento boxes that had gone bad, yellow-smeared cotton swabs thrown carelessly after their duty of cleaning ears had been done, underwear stripped and left to lie around, Akadama-sensei's own old man body odor and the leftover smell and hair from the tanuki who visited quite often... This room, that was the height of disorder along with its stink, apparently completely overwhelmed the Nidaime as he stood at the threshold in mute amazement.

Using my best shapeshifting techniques, I managed to recreate the dignity typical of tengu.

"So good of you to come back, son! What happened in the past was all my fault. Will you forgive me?"

From the mouth of Nyoigadake Yakushibou, a tengu who carried his wicked ways to the extremes and spat on all creation, one after another fell accommodationist lines, and it was so blatantly contrived that I felt ashamed for myself.

When I opened my arms wide, the Nidaime approached cautiously, got down to one knee after carefully wiping the filth from the spot on the tatami where his knee would go and gingerly returned the embrace while paying scrupulous attention as not to get his jacket dirty in the process. With this, the books on the strife of a hundred years between the father and the son could be closed, it seemed.

Except, all of a sudden, the Nidaime whispered into my ear, "I see you've acquired quite the tanuki reek to you, father." "That'd be because the tanuki come here all the time. I'm rather sick of them myself." "You say that, but it is rather apparent that you're quite fond of tanuki." "Fool! What are you talking about?" "Why else would you grow a tail like a tanuki?"

The Nidaime then gave my lower back a slap, seizing the tail that popped out from that impact in a tight grip.

In the blink of an eye my transformation was unraveled, and I found myself hanging upside down, bitterly regretting my shallow and ill-conceived idea to fool a tengu by shapeshifting into a tengu. What could be a more humiliating and painful experience? Tanuki don't do upside down. And now, dangling precariously in the air with up and down switched, I mumbled barely coherently, begging the Nidaime for forgiveness, "I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!"

"Could it be that you're the tanuki who was in Nyoigadake earlier?" The Nidaime brought the bridge of his flawless nose closer to me, still holding me upside down. "If that's the case, then you must have inferred the circumstances and beat me to the punch, huh."

Having subdued his anger, the Nidaime put me back down on the tatami flooring.

Rubbing my aching butt, I looked up at him.

"Please forgive my foolish prank. I am the third son of Shimogamo Souichirou, Yasaburou. I would like to congratulate you on your safe return from abroad from the bottom of my heart, sir." "No need for such ceremonious greetings. Incidentally, where is my real father?" "Well, sir, that I know not myself. I wonder where could he possibly have gone?" "Hm-hmph," the Nidaime snorted under his breath and took a look around the small room, eyes taking notice of the sliding door to the closet that I had slid shut in a hurry just minutes earlier. Behind it, he was sure to find a drooling Akadama-sensei, hugging the daruma doll and dreaming of Benten's backside. I was on pins and needles, fearing that the Nidaime would see right through it any moment now, but he made no attempt to investigate the closet, just muttered, "Tanuki are such admirable little creatures," in an indescribable tone that could be one of admiration or one of exasperation.

"Tanuki are indeed admirable," I said. "If there is anything you need, simply say the word. I'm sure there must be some inconveniences after being gone for so long. And there is still the need to find your furniture and household belongings." "Yes, indeed. It appears those Kurama fools tossed them from Nyoigadake." "If you would, sir, may I suggest leaving this matter in the hands of this Yasaburou?"

Those household possessions flung from Daimonji by the Kurama tengu must have been picked up and hoarded by the tanuki dwelling in Kyoto. But if the Nidaime claimed ownership over them even at this late a date, it was not impossible to get his collection, that had been sucked into the tanuki's lairs, back.

When I informed him of that, "I would be very grateful," he replied, produced a gold coin from his pocket and tried to get me to take it. "I cannot allow you to work for free." "But tengu are made to drive tanuki to work hard. Tengu are greater than tanuki, after all." "I do not like being indebted to others, Yasaburou-kun," the Nidaime then said. "Besides, I'm not a tengu."

〇

The Nidaime's return to the country sent significant ripples through the tanuki world.

To the furballs with short lifespans, witnessing the arrival of a brand new tengu was a rarity that may or may not happen only once in a lifetime. So the ever curious tanuki, wanting to get a look at that new tengu, stalked Hotel Okura in Kawaramachi-oike. Among the stalkers were even elderly furballs with not much longer left to live who were supposed to stay in the seclusion of Tanukidani-Fudou temple. Before long, an irresponsible rumor went into circulation that stealing a look at the new tengu was sure to extend one's lifespan.

With the tanuki world clamoring on and on, I got summoned by the head of tanuki society, Yasaka Heitarou, and went to pay him a visit in Gion together with my eldest brother.

As we walked from the east end of Shijouoohashi bridge, heading to Yasaka temple, I kept grumbling under my breath how annoying all this was.

From my experience, nothing good was in store for you when you were summoned by the Nise-emon: it was either to lecture you to the accompaniment of a Hawaiian melody or to task you with some troublesome job.

As far as my brother explained it to me, at a meeting held the day before with him and Yasaka Heitarou presiding, the discussion on how to better deal with the Nidaime produced no real conclusion, except for a half-backed one along the lines of 'Let's ask Yasaburou's opinion, for starters' to evade the issue.

"You're the only who had any opportunity to hold a real conversation with the Nidaime," my brother stated. "Besides, you also excel at handling Akadama-sensei. That is, your name and tengu basically go hand in hand, you see." "I'm no tengu expert." "Stop complaining and make yourself useful to the tanuki world once in a while."

A big tanuki named Yasaka Heitarou was not only the head of the Yasaka clan that held the territory stretching from Maruyama Park to Gion, but also the Nise-emon governing all the tanuki of Kyoto. His office was located in a back alley of Gion-Nawate that was lined with tiny snack pubs and bars, in the building of a closed down proctology clinic. That clinic took care of Kyoto tanuki's behinds for many years, and I, too, was a patient there at one time when a mushroom grew out on my butt back when I was little.

The waiting room of the defunct clinic was crowded with tanuki who came to appeal to the Nise-emon, and me and my brother patiently waited for our turn, seated on an old leather-covered couch. At long last, we were escorted to the Hawaiian-styled examining room where Yasaka Heitarou, sprawling in a rattan chair and plucking at the strings of an ukulele, greeted us.

"Hi there, sorry for the trouble. Welcome to Fake Hawaii."

On the walls of the examining room a very Hawaiian blue sea and indigo sky were painted, in the corners there were planted a few fake palm trees, and the space on the walls was crammed with an assortment of Hawaii-related articles such as hula girl dolls, wreaths and aloha shirts. Hawaii had become Yasaka Heitarou's yearned-for paradise ever since he had gone on a recreation trip there in his youth, and he wanted nothing more than to push the position of the Nise-emon on my brother as soon as possible and escape to his southern land of dreams. It was his dearest wish to spend his time playing with coconuts on the Hawaiian beach after retiring.

"Nothing like thriving business, isn't it," said I.

"It's not profitable, but this flood of customers never stops. It's so aggravating, really."

Since as the head of the tanuki world, the Nise-emon was expected to bring the tanuki of Kyoto together, whenever there was a quarrel, he had to step in and arbitrate; during any big tanuki assembly he was to take charge, and it was also his duty to show the way to little tanuki who searched for the correct way to live as a tanuki. Sometimes, he even had to give advice on love affairs. That said, tanuki were creatures liable to easily overlook the bigger issue and lose themselves in pointless arguments over some minor stuff. Thus, the problems that visitors wanted Yasaka Heitarou to settle for them rarely required quick wit and mental gymnastics bordering on acrobatics, Oooka-style [*4], to solve. For that reason, when a complicated problem related to tengu fell in his lap, Yasaka Heitarou found himself at a loss.

Offering me and my brother chairs, Yasaka Heitarou produced a Mango Frappuccino from the fridge. The ukulele sang in staccato. The atmosphere of a southern island steadily filled the room.

"Well then, Yasaburou. I'm going to ask this because I regard you as an authority on the tengu world..."

Hearing such flattering words did make me feel better.

"The Nidaime... is he the real deal?"

If Yasaka Heitarou was asking whether or not the Nidaime was a genuine tengu or a legitimate heir of Akadama-sensei's, then it was probably for the sake of observing what was considered manners such as sending formal greetings from the tanuki world and holding an official welcome ceremony. After all, the Nidaime had set foot on his native land for the first time in a hundred years, that had to be celebrated with lavish. However, considering the big fight that, as everyone knew, had occurred that same century ago, there was tremendous strife between Akadama-sensei and the Nidaime. Not only had sensei not acknowledged the Nidaime in any shape or form, there were even suspicions that he thought of making Benten his successor. While there was nothing technically wrong with extending courtesy to the Nidaime on behalf of the tanuki world, it was out of question to incur Akadama-sensei and Benten's anger and irrational crackdown on tanuki right after, which was where the problem lay.

I was asked to relay the full particulars of my encounter with the Nidaime.

"As far as I can tell, he is a tengu through and through, no question about it. It is strange that the person in question insists he's not one though... Maybe it's because he somewhat lacks self-awareness as a tengu." "That spells trouble in dealing with him." "Things between the father and the son look as bad as ever, too, and when Benten-sama eventually returns, there will be a world of trouble, no doubt. If we recklessly get involved in this, fur on our butts is sure to catch fire." "Stop enjoying this, Yasaburou," my brother chided. "Well, it's fine," Heitarou remarked. "...So, what do you think, Yaichirou-kun?"

My brother folded his arms and frowned.

"I think my brother is an idiot. That said, I believe his judgement is correct."

Yasaka Heitarou seemed to be in thought as he plucked at his ukulele.

The reason why Yasaka Heitarou succeeded our father, the previous Nise-emon, after he had fallen into the Friday Fellows Club's pot, was because they were childhood friends. While tanuki society ran about in confusion, playing a desperate push-and-shove game of Oshikura Manju [*5] after losing their head, Heitarou, upset and dillydallying, was mercilessly pushed out of the circle as the fall guy. At the time, Ebisugawa Souun still lacked dignity to seize the Nise-emon position, and many tanuki were of the opinion that they'd be better off leaving it to almost anyone, even Heitarou, than Ebisugawa. Ever since, while not having produced achievements worthy of special mention to his name, neither had Yasaka Heitarou made many big blunders, the fact of his continuous service, decent if lacking passion, to the tanuki world in such an uncharacteristic role was quite admirable in and of itself.

"In the end, we're just tanuki. Haste makes waste." Before long, Yasaka Heitarou ended his musical performance and slapped his knees. "As a sly old tanuki that I'm supposed to be, I say we wait and see. We'll decide which side to wag our tails once the stance of the tengu world on the matter has been made clear. For the time being, look out for any movements in the tengu world."

〇

What I requested of Yasaka Heitarou was to spread the word as far as possible that the tengu stones that the tanuki had picked up and deep-pocketed belonged to the Nidaime, and appeal for their return.

I asked Kiyomizu Chiijitarou from the antique store on Teramachi-doori street to provide a corner for the tengu stone collection retrieval and inspected the articles that the tanuki had been bringing there. It was as heart-breaking as taking the knife to the flesh for the tanuki to have to part with the tengu stones they had painstakingly collected, and many of them made a dramatic scene in front of the secondhand store. Among them even were those who loathed and cursed me for going and sticking my nose where it didn't belong.

The assortment of articles that the Nidaime had brought back from England was astoundingly diverse.

A writing desk, western canes numbering ten-something, a few dozens of men's leather shoes, a wooden wardrobe, plenty of suitcases, a collection of distance glasses, devices for experiments such as magnifying glasses and microscopes, lots of indoor slippers, silverware and candlestands, a violin, a chessboard, a mysterious bundle of keys, 3 overcoats, lamps, a bathtub, Persian carpets, tweet caps, hundreds of Western books, scraps of newspaper articles... And that was only part of it. The chaise that my little brother and I had found at the foot of Nyoigadake was turned in, as well.

Thus, for about a week, I was being kept so busy that there was no time to even think about tsuchinoko.

Tsuchinoko represented the dream, but tengu were reality. During that period, the Nidaime lived at the hotel in Kawaramachi-oike. Those good looks of his and natural majestic air typical of tengu held the hotel staff captivated, and they treated him like a regular patron of many years. His appearance and mannerisms of an old-fashioned English gentleman fit nicely into the hotel's big solemn lobby and tea room, his honor and dignity as a tengu just returned home displayed amply. A walk about an hour long that he would take at 5 in the afternoon was his everyday routine, his path always the same, and it mattered not if it rained. In the crowd of Shinkyougako street the Nidaime's form was extremely conspicuous, unfailingly turning heads of every passerby. Upon returning to the hotel, he would always check the time at the front door, and his motions, from opening his pocket watch to the angle he tilted his chin at to confirm the dial was so unchanging it was like a picture on a stamp. The Napoléon gold coins that seemed to appear from the pockets of his coat one after another in an endless stream hinted at the Nidaime's outrageous financial assets, but unlike some, he didn't squander that wealth on extravagant night amusements, seemingly having a truly calm and peaceful lifestyle.

Everyday in the evening, I went to deliver the items that had been collected from the tanuki that day at about the time when, by my estimations, the Nidaime would be back after his walk.

"Hello, Yasaburou-kun. Much obliged to you today again."

With each my repeated visit, the hotel room was steadily being reworked into an orderly pseudo-Europe. The tengu in an impecably spotless white dress shirt recently back from abroad who welcomed me in looked quite comfortable surrounded by his favorite furniture. He repeatedly tried to push gold coins into my pocket, but having my pride as a tanuki, I turned him down every time one way or another.

"I don't like being indebted to people," the Nidaime would say. "Well, sir, I'm a tanuki." "Allow me to rephrase then. I don't like being indebted to tanuki." "To be honest, I'm planning on asking for a much bigger favor eventually, such that gold coins will not measure up adequately enough. I'm being kept so busy I cannot even go out to search for tsuchinoko." "And there you have it. I have a feeling I'll be tricked if I'm not careful." "Having enough leeway to allow yourself to be tricked is a wonderful thing." "Well said. Is that a pearl of tanuki wisdom?"

The Nidaime showed a wry smile, and I was off the hook for the time being while still staying true to my adamant refusal to accept gold coins.

Incidentally, there was something about his recovered collection that weighted on the Nidaime's mind, a thing called an air gun, of German make. Crafted by a German engineer in the 19th century, it was a mechanism equipped with a powerful pump that compressed the air to launch a lead bullet. Having passed though several hands on its way from the continent to the British Empire, the gun remained a prized possession of a certain aristocrat for many years before being auctioned off which was when the Nidaime bought it; from the photo of it, it looked as beautiful as any brass instrument. When I heard the words 'air gun', I imagined a toy that launched soft and fuzzy shells like hairballs, but "It's nothing that adorable," the Nidaime chuckled. With that gun rumored to have been used to assassinate a minister of a certain country, if they happened to be shot from it, a creature like tanuki would be Heaven-bound in no time, apparently.

"I assume you, my furball friends, don't like guns, do you?" "No, we most certainly don't. That said, I've never had a chance to see one upclose myself." "If you could find it with all due haste, I would be grateful. There is sure to be trouble if it were to be misused."

As a matter of fact, while I was frequenting the Nidaime in this fashion, Akadama-sensei still lived knowing nothing about the Nidaime's return to the country. Finding a tanuki who would want to be on the receiving end of a rage explosion over making such a report was impossible, and seeing as sensei stayed holed up in his apartment the whole time, he simply had no chances to hear the news in the first place.

When I dropped by at one time with a multi-compartment bento box in hand, I found sensei in the middle of his four and a half tatami mat room, seated at a low tea table as if clinging to it and writing another love letter to Benten he kept on sending.

Sensei is always the last to know, how pitiful, how lamentable.

Just when my thoughts trailed hazily along those lines, sensei suddenly sent a glare my way.

"Yasaburou." "What is it, sir?" "Are you hiding something from me?" "Bringing that up this late in the game, sir?" panicking, I spoke up jovially. "I do have a lot of secrets, I’ll have you know."

Sensei snorted, putting finishing touches to his love letter. "...Oh well, no matter. Your secrets must be silly trifling things either way."

〇

Akadama-sensei, left out of the loop about the Nidaime's homecoming, learned about everything when May had already reached its second half and it had been 2 weeks since the Nidaime's return.

The only ones who could tell sensei, nigh-permanently cooped up in his apartment, the truth were his few old tengu friends. When I heard the rumor that Iwayasan Kinkoubou was seen passing though the Demachi shopping district with a 1 sho bottle decorated with a mizuhiki cord [*6], I thought, 'The time has finally come'.

Apprehensively, I decided to drop by sensei's apartment, but by the time I did it had already been vacated.

Following that, Akadama-sensei had disappeared from Kyoto, and hasty tanuki made a fuss, jumping to a conclusion that he went into hiding fearing retaliation from the Nidaime. However, those of us who had actually studied under sensei, starting with me, objected, insistent that with him, of all people, such a thing was just impossible.

It was true that our former mentor had lost the ability to fly through the sky freely years too early, and for someone who became a good-for-nothing old geezer who was like a thorough collection of all the nasty and wicked traits tengu possessed despite his total inability to do anything tengu-like, he shamelessly remained a selfish leecher and an overbearing tanuki-bullying braggart, yet there was also no denying that his tengu pride was the only thing he had in such abundance that it could start dripping from his nose at any moment. That is, he was the kind of person who would rather die a ridiculous death by crashing into freeze-dried tofu than give the likes of tanuki a cause to point fingers and run their mouths about him running away in fear of the Nidaime.

'Mark our words, sensei will be back, without fail,' asserted the Akadama tanuki pupils.

And not even a few days later a tanuki came out and claimed that he saw sensei moving about the Kumogahata region.

The parts of Kumogahata, located to the north of Kyoto, that slipped deep into the Kitayamasugi cedar forest after you went north and upstream the Kamogawa river and left the urban area, were the turf of Iwayasan Kinkoubou since very long ago. To us, removing himself from the world below full of earthly affairs and tanuki hair and going into seclusion in a lofty place like that looked like proof of just how serious Akadama-sensei was being. There could be no doubt that our great teacher went to train his body and discipline his mind that had grown rusty and dull from his many years of reclusive life, fully intending to confront the Nidaime now that he had been back.

"That's Akadama-sensei for you. Even corrupt, he's still Nyoigadake Yakushibou."

After this news, in the tanuki world sensei's stocks seemed to have gone up somewhat.

T/N:

[*1] Nidaime (ニ代目) lit. the Second: make no mistake it's not a name, just a counter that serves as a convenient way to identify him, so everyone calls him that (similarly to the use of words like sensei, danna, kaichou, etc). His full tengu name would be Nyoigadake Yakushibou the Second. [*2] Minamiza theater (南座): one of the most famous and earliest kabuki theaters (wiki); its current building was built in 1929 which we could take as the year when the conflict between Akadama and the Nidaime took place. [*3] Daruma (達磨): I'm sure every anime or manga fan knows what a daruma is (wiki just in case), so here I'll just mention that when new, both its eyes are unfilled, and you fill in the left eye when you found a wish or an ambition you want to make reality and the right one after you've achieved it. [*4] Oooka judgement (大岡裁き): originates from the decisions made by a legendary judge of the 17th century Oooka Tadasuke who is famous for making his decisions with exceptional wisdom, fair-mindedness and kindness (wiki) [*5] Oshikura Manju (押し競饅頭): a children's game where participants stand back-to back in a circle and try to push one of them out of it (wiki) [*6] 1 sho bottle ( 一升瓶 ): sho is a traditional Japanese unit for measuring volume equal to 1.8 liters; Mizuhiki (水引) is a decorative cord out of twisted rice paper (wiki)

#uchouten kazoku 2 #uchouten kazoku nidaime no kichou

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crystallized-iron · 5 years

Text

Bite Me - Chapter Seven

Please read the tags on the Masterlist! Masterlist

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

The sun had set and the sky was dark when Howard received the call.

“What did you learn, Stark?”

Howard could hear the pain in Fury’s voice, but he knew better than to question the Director about it. “Not much, sir. The sample you sent me was very small.”

“You want to work with something bigger? Get your ass over here. Tell the family you have a big project if you have to.”

He glanced at Maria, catching her stare. “I’ll be there soon.”

“Make sure no one follows.”

Howard took the phone from his ear after the call ended.

“Was it work?” Maria asked him.

“Yes. I don’t know when I’ll be home.”

“Will it be before morning?”

“It’s doubtful.”

Maria sighed. “I will just wait up for Tony then.”

“Yes, you do that. Make sure he hasn’t done anything stupid.”

Maria lightly shook her head. “You are too harsh on that boy.”

“If I wasn’t, he would ruin his life.”

“You say that as though you hadn’t made your own mistakes at his age,” she told him. “He isn’t stupid, Howard, he’s young.”

“Maria, I will raise the child as I see fit,” Howard stated, his voice rising with his frustration.

“You’re only succeeding in pushing him away,” Maria calmly replied. “Once he leaves home to start his life, you may never see him again.”

“I don’t see that happening.”

“It’s already started. If you love your son, please be gentler. Show him the man I fell in love with.”

Howard gave her a quiet look before going to the coat closet. “That’s not something I can do.” His coat was retrieved and he put it on. “I need to go.”

“You always need to go.” Maria accepted the quick peck to her cheek. “Be careful, Howard. You just might work yourself into a coma someday.”

He grabbed his keys with a whispered, “You have no idea.”

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

“We can go to the club.”

Tony looked at Bucky with a raised brow, then down at himself. “Do I really look dressed for a club?”

Bucky’s eyes trailed over him. “Mm, I like the business look.”

Tony rolled his eyes and rubbed his sides with his hands, trying to fight off the cold. They had been sitting in the rapidly cooling car for a while now and Tony was cold. At least he was out of the wind.

“What’s wrong?” Bucky asked.

“Do vampires not feel the cold?”

“Oh.” Bucky started the engine, allowing the heat to come on. “Sorry, I didn’t think about it.”

“Obviously not.” As the car grew warmer, Tony said, “You know… there’s something off about you being a vampire.”

“Only one something?”

“Besides you not being bloodthirsty.”

“That’s self control,” Bucky stated.

“Anyway.” Tony gestured to the window. “You were in sunlight.”

“And?”

“And isn’t sunlight supposed to be really deadly to vampires?”

“In some stories, yes,” Bucky answered. “Different cultures explain our existence in different ways. They have their theories, but they don’t have the truth. They aren’t living it, so they can only guess.”

“Oh. What about -”

“Before you ask, I wouldn’t want to be around anything with a disgustingly overwhelming smell of garlic.”

“Silver bullets?”

“Bullets hurt, it doesn’t matter what kind.”

“Stake through the heart?”

Bucky leaned forward. “Would you survive that?”

“Well… no.”

“Neither would I.”

“Okay. That makes sense.”

“Do you want to kill me, Tony? Is that why you’re asking these questions?”

“Not really, no. Even if -” he swallowed involuntarily as Bucky held his hand - “even if you were going to kill me.”

“I’m not going to kill you -”

“I know! I… I-I know.” He licked his lips and tried not to give into the intense sudden lust that came with the simple touch. “Is that… i-is it a vampire, uh, power, thing?”

“What?”

Tony pulled his hand away. “The… My head’s been… weird. I… I should be… absolutely terrified. I was. After the bite… I’m not scared… I… I want you so fucking much. Is it… is it your doing?” He looked into Bucky’s eyes, hoping for an honest answer.

It has to be you.

Bucky met his gaze. “It is.”

“Then stop it,” Tony pleaded. “Please, Bucky, if you actually want something between us, you need to stop it. It needs to be real.”

“Tony -”

“No. Whatever it is, please stop it. Please.”

Reluctant at first, Bucky freed Tony from his influence. “If that’s what you want.”

The change was instant.

Want and desire became absolute dread and panic. Tony pressed himself against the door once more, but this time the fear was far worse. There was a warning feeling going off inside him as though repeatedly shouting Danger! Danger! Danger!

“You wanted your natural reaction, right?” Bucky asked.

The voice alone sent a shiver down Tony’s spine. It felt more sinister, but Bucky hadn’t changed his tone. Tony’s body wanted to run. He needed to escape!

“From… f-from the beginning, y-you were -”

“In the beginning, I was looking for a possible fuck and a meal,” Bucky explained. “Seduction is useful for feedings.”

“W-would have been so, so e-easy for you,” Tony told him.

“Yes, but you were concerned over me. I don’t get a lot of that, Tony. Guess you have your own powers.”

Tony tried for a laugh. “That’s like, like saying I seduced you -” and Bucky’s lips were suddenly on his. Bucky had been so fast but Tony didn’t push him away. Yes, he was scared, so very scared, but he gripped Bucky’s collar and tried to pull him closer, opening his mouth to the scary vampire. A cold tongue entered, timidly licking around.

They stared at each other after parting moments later. Tony’s heavy breathing and the car’s engine were the only sounds filling the silence.

“Do you want to stay afraid?” Bucky murmured as he placed a hand on Tony’s chest, feeling the rapid beating.

“Will it… w-will it ever go away?”

“I don’t know.”

“Can you… can you please… calm me down?”

“Yes.”

It was the first time Tony noticed a faint glow to Bucky’s eyes just before the vampire influence washed over him. “Okay, that was kind of cool.”

“Feel better then?”

“Yes. And I meant the glowing eyes.”

Bucky gave him a confused look. “Glowing eyes?”

“You didn’t know your eyes glow?”

“They do?”

“Just before your spell or whatever worked.”

“Well. How ‘bout that,” Bucky said as he started to smile. “I had no idea.”

Tony reached up and cupped Bucky’s face. “Yes, and it’s really cool. But now let’s continue that kiss.”

“You sure you want to?”

“Yes, Bucky, I’m sure. Please kiss me.”

Bucky held Tony’s hands, softly kissing them before moving to Tony’s face again and claiming his mouth. Tony shivered when he felt Bucky’s chilly hands sliding underneath his suit jacket and dress shirt, running up his sides. They warmed quickly against Tony’s skin.

It all felt intoxicating.

===== ===== =====

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Artwork created by @massivespacewren

#winteriron #Tony Stark #Bucky Barnes #vampire au #vampire Bucky

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thehuggamugcafe · 6 years

Text

And The World Went Away

OOC: Well, it’s official. The Resident Evil 2 Remake demo scared the holy hell out of this Barista. Good lord, I couldn’t help but to feel inspired after watching some gameplay footage. Also, Overkill’s The Walking Dead characters’ story trailers helped spawn this little musing.

This... What is this? Well, I wouldn’t call it a series. Merely... Musings for whenever I’m in the mood to write them, which won’t be often, I think. If you’d like, I can include my other muses in their own scenarios for these “musings”, for lack of a better word.

If anyone’s interested in this sort of thing, please let me know; I’d really appreciate the feedback. Likes and reblogs are A-OK, but comments on this (yes, even constructive criticism!) are fine, too.

Let us begin the horror show shall we, my dears? Please enjoy. ☕

A cranium impacted the wall of an alleyway, besmirching the filthy brick exterior with a splatter of blood. A huff of a breath left the mouth of a certain barista—no, former barista—as a moist noise came from the skull of what had once been a man.

Milky brown eyes stared up into the sweaty, flushed face of a 20-year-old woman as a knife was removed from where it was inserted: between the monstrosity’s eyes.

“You bastard! Goddammit,” the ex-barista hissed, clicking her tongue as she spared a quick glance at herself.

Ice blue irises glared at her glove-covered hands, checking and double-checking for any glaringly obvious signs of a scratch, no matter how small.

She relaxed only when she was positive that she hadn’t been scratched.

Eira had seen what happened to those who’d been unfortunate enough to be bitten or scratched, after all.

It had only been a few months since the initial outbreak had occurred, but...

She remembered.

She remembered what had happened on that day in her small, homey café.

It was cliché, so terribly cliché, but it had started off the same way as it had in all those horrid, cheesy zombie movies, TV shows, books, and video games.

Reports of odd assaults on an unsuspecting person, who’s only crime was being at the wrong place, wrong time, became a daily occurrence.

Headlines titled “Attacks In Broad Daylight” were soon plastered over the front page of every newspaper, every news magazine across the country.

Health and government officials assured the public that there was nothing to worry about, that order would be restored within a few short weeks. Meanwhile, the general public was advised to stay away from anyone who may be “sick,” and to remain as sanitary as possible. She recalled the one warning, the only warning the public had received before all hell broke loose on the streets of Tokyo...

“We interrupt this scheduled program for a message from the Japanese Ministry of Health. A contagious disease is rumoured to have begun spreading within Shibuya. Those who’ve been exposed to this illness display the following symptoms: sweating, nausea, fever, disorientation, seizures, severe migraines, and eventual death. We advise all residents to remain indoors until further notice. If you believe that you or a loved one is infected with this disease, please call local authorities immediately. Do not leave your residence. This message will repeat every five minutes.”

The day when a customer had stumbled in through the door of the Huggamug Café, left open to allow a nonexistent breeze to whisper through the interior, despite the air conditioner keeping the customers, the employees, and the young owner and manager cool.

Eira recalled the customer’s twitching body, voicing an unusual-sounding groan as saliva and blood dripped on to the floor of the café. It was something that irked Eira greatly, having just swept and mopped the floor 30 minutes before the customer arrived.

“Hey.”

She remembered snapping that lone word as she walked forward, ready to give the customer a piece of her mind. However...

The closer she got, the more she realized how much he reeked. He stunk of sweat, as if he hadn’t showered in weeks.

She noticed how dirty his clothes were, how matted his hair was.

She noticed the blood and bits of flesh stuck between his teeth.

“Sir, are you okay? Maybe you should-”

Eira could still remember the feeling of two dirty, cold hands wrapping around her clothed shoulders.

She could still recall the sickening breath wafting over her face as she hit the floor.

She remembered feeling the disgusting stench of warm copper hitting her face as she screamed for someone, anyone to assist her as the customer snapped his bloody jaws near her face.

She could recall three sets of footsteps quickly approaching her as she raised a foot, delivering a solid kick to the man’s chest, knocking him off of her.

Immediately after Eira had kicked the customer away from her, Akira had followed up with a quick swing underneath the man’s chin with a broom. The man had hit the floor, as expected, but he resorted to crawling on his hands and knees.

“W-What the hell is this?! How is he still moving?!” Eira shouted, pointing her icy irises on the customer.

“Keep him there, Ren!”

Akira’s shout resonated throughout the silent café, earning a nod as Ren kept the snarling, milky-eyed customer pinned to the ground, a foot planted on his neck.

“One warning’s all you get,” Ren said, narrowing his onyx irises as the customer hissed, snarled, pointed his milky eyes up at the noiret.

A disgustingly sharp crack echoed through the café’s interior, a noise that Eira remembered wincing at as she slowly, steadily got to her feet. The customer’s eyes stared at nothing, rolled back into his head, the bones of his spine threatening to poke through the skin of his throat.

Ren’s accuracy was on point. So on point, in fact, that with one twist of his foot, the customer’s neck had snapped like a twig.

“Are you alright, Ms. Rundström?” Arsène had asked, his gaze fixed on his young employer.

“I’m fine, Lupin, thank you.”

Rounding back on Ren, Eira had continued her little rant.

“...Are you trying to kill my business, Amamiya?”

Despite her annoyed tone, she was still noticeably shaken up by what had just happened. Had it not been for her employees’ timely rescue...

“He was crazed, Boss. He tried to bite you.”

“Still, that’s no excuse to murder someone, and inside the café!”

Eira couldn’t honestly remember what happened after that. One moment she and Amamiya had been arguing back and forth, and then...

Chaos. Complete and utter chaos.

She recalled bits and pieces here and there, whenever she was alone and could think calmly, clearly. All she really remembered was that she had lost track of her employees in the ensuing madness, that she had lost contact with her relatives.

How long had it been since she’d last seen Akira? Seen Arsène? Seen Ren?

Hell, how long had it been since she’d seen anyone who wasn’t a “Shuffler”, as she called them. The monstrosities who now roamed the streets, seeking out the flesh of the living? It felt like it had been years...

In the here and now, the ex-barista breathed a sigh as she pointed her blue irises up at the sky. She was quietly grateful for the fact that it was still daylight, mid-morning to be exact.

“They” appeared to be less active during the daytime, and if she couldn’t see them, she could oftentimes hear them approaching.

The slow shuffle of their footsteps still turned her skin to gooseflesh...

She bit back a shudder, digging a hand into the left-hand pocket of her black parka. A photo was removed, one that she had insisted on carrying.

It held a lot of sentimental value to her, after all.

In the picture, Akira and Arsène smiled; a small smile curled Ren’s lips, as well as her own. The photo had been taken outside the café just as the summer season began, the picturesque example of tranquility. Of old times. Of a time that seemed so far flung in the past.

Eira breathed a sigh as she folded the picture, stuffing it back into the pocket it had been taken out of.

“Akira, Arsène, Ren... You three better be okay... Idiots.”

The early winter wind whispered through the alley, bringing an all too recognizable stench of blood and decay along with it, shoving the horrendous stench up Eira’s nostrils.

The foreigner sneered, the heels of her leather boots clicking as she left the alleyway. She wasn’t certain what building she’d loot from next. A grocery store, a hardware store, or perhaps a pawn shop?

Wherever she went next, she could only hope... She could only pray...

That she recognized a face, perhaps three, when she arrived.

#persona 5 #p5 #original character #thehuggamugcafe's original character #eira rundstrom #persona 5 meets zombie apocalypse #this is what you get from me after I've watched a demo #that demo being the Resident Evil 2 Remake demo #and Overkill's The Walking Dead characters' stories trailer #this is just a self-indulgent treat #tw: violence and gore #akira kurusu #ren amamiya #arsene lupin #honourable mentions

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